J 


THE 

THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 

EMBRACING  THE 

CONTMST  OF  LIGHT  AND  SHADE, 

OF  COLOUR 
AND  HARMONY. 

BY  AN  ARTIST. 
WITH  FIFTEEN  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  HINCKLEY. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

J.  W.  MOORE,  193  CHESTiNUT  STREET. 
1851. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1850,  by 

J.  W.  MOORE, 

in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


Isaac  Ashmead,  Printee. 


PREFACE. 


A  BELIEF  that  a  work  of  this  character  will  be  of 
service  to  those  persons  who  are  anxious  to  obtain 
a  knowledge  of  Drawing  and  Effect,  has  induced 
the  author  to  present  it  to  the  public.  He  has 
found  the  rules  contained  in  it  of  great  advantage 
to  himself,  and  sincerely  hopes  that  they  may  con- 
tribute a  like  satisfaction  to  those  in  whose  hands 
they  may  fall. 

It  will  be  seen,  that  it  is  intended  as  a  com- 
panion to  those  who  are  learning  to  draw,  to  aid 
them  in  their  endeavours  to  acquire  a  knowledge 
of  the  art; — a  knowledge,  of  which  there  is  none 
equal  and  none  more  beneficial. 

He  would  here  offer  his  thanks  to  P.  F.  Rother- 
mel  and  J.  B.  Nagle,  Esqrs.,  for  their  aid  in  the 
production  of  the  work,  and  to  Mr.  C.  T.  Hinckley 
for  the  attention  and  care  he  has  bestowed  upon 
the  engravings. 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  art  of  drawing  furnishes  an  example  which 
cannot  be  found  in  any  other  profession.  There 
is  no  amusement  more  dehghtful,  no  accompKsh- 
ment  more  useful,  no  art  more  elegant,  or  no  pro- 
fession more  advantageous,  than  the  practice  of 
the  Fine  Arts. 

Drawing  brings  neither  regret,  anxiety  or  fa- 
tigue of  body,  however  much  followed.  Almost 
every  other  pursuit  leaves  a  weariness  when  close- 
ly applied  to ;  and  to  none  does  there  belong  that 
pleasing  and  enervating  effect  which  is  to  be  found 
in  the  practice  of  the  heaven-born  art  of  drawing. 
This  art  can  be  practised  in  the  sick  chamber 
without  disturbing  the  inmate ;  it  can  be  practised 
in  the  drawing  room,  whilst  others  may  be  reading 
or  studying  without  interfering  with  them  in  the 
least ;  and  independent  of  all  this,  it  is  one  of  the 
cheapest  of  the  many  amusements  which  abound. 
If  we  consider  drawing  in  the  light  of  an  acquire- 
ment, where  shall  we  find  one  more  elegant  or 
more  useful  ?  It  is  by  a  know^ledge  of  this  art  that 
the  ingenious  mechanician  renders  his  descriptions 
of  complex  machinery  intelligible  ;  it  is  also  by  this 
art  that  the  traveller  is  enabled  to  render  the  ac- 

1* 


INTRODUCTION. 


count  of'  his  wanderings  of  ten-fold  value,  by  the 
representation  of  the  various  objects  w^hich  may  be 
interesting;  whilst  the  slighest  sketch  will  often 
bring  to  mind  the  recollection  of  circumstances, 
which  have  escaped  the  memory  in  the  lapse  of 
years,  and  render  back  each  long-forgotten  image 
more  vividly,  than  the  best  and  completest  journal. 

The  object  of  this  work  is  to  put  persons  in  a 
way,  by  a  knowledge  of  the  theory  of  effect,  to 
make  their  drawino^  correct  and  strikinoj.  It  is 
not  intended  as  a  drawing  book  for  beginners  only, 
but  for  those  who  have  attained  a  proficiency  in 
the  art,  but  are  unacquainted  with  the  reasons  why 
their  pictures  are  correct,  only  as  they  acquire 
them  from  their  constant  copying.  The  rules  are 
here  laid  down  in  so  simple  and  efficient  a  manner, 
that  if  those  persons  who  have  been  taught  to 
draw,  without  learning  the  theory  of  effect  or  con- 
trast, will  take  the  trouble  of  studying  them,  they 
will  find  their  powers  of  composition,  or,  as  it  is 
generally  termed  "  drawing  out  of  their  own 
heads,"  greatly  increased. 

Without  understanding  these  rules,  a  man,  how- 
ever w^ell  he  may  draw,  can  never  be  called  an 
artist.  Rembrandt,  by  his  consummate  knowledge 
of  effect,  gave  that  magic  representation  of  light 
and  shade,  that  raised  him  to  the  highest  rank  in 
his  profession,  which,  with  his  deficient  skill  as  a 
draughtsman,  he  could  never  hope  to  obtain. 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


The  generally  received  meaning  of  the  word 
EFFECT  is,  that  scientific  arrangement  of  form,  of 
light  and  shade,  and  of  colour,  by  which  an  artist, 
skilled  in  its  rules,  renders  his  representations  of 
natui*e  more  striking,  attractive  and  beautiful,  than 
he,  who  equally  clever  in  the  mere  imitation  of 
objects,  is  at  the  same  time  totally  ignorant  of  the 
principles  of  effect ;  for  the  student  must  not  sup- 
pose, that  a  perfect  representation  of  an  object  in 
nature  is  sufficient.  No,  he  must  also  learn  to 
know  whether  that  object  be  in  a  good  state  of 
light  and  shade,  colour,  &c.,  before  he  makes  a 
drawing  of  it ;  and  should  he  never  be  able  to  see 
it  in  that  state,  he  must  supply  the  deficiency  from 
his  own  imagination,  according  to  those  rules 
which  every  artist  of  merit  possesses,  it  might  be 
said  intuitively,  as  there  are  many  who,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  are  capable  of  producing  a  very 
good  effect,  are  also  unable  to  say  by  what  rules  it 
is  produced. 


8 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


Effect  consists  in  the  proper  admixture  and 
skillful  union  of  the  two  opposite  qualities  of  which 
it  is  composed,  and  which  are  called  Contrast  and 
Harmony ;  should  either  of  these  exceed  too  much 
the  power  of  the  other,  the  effect  will  be  bad ;  for 
should  contrast  predominate  too  powerfully,  it  will 
be  disturbed,  scattered,  crude  and  want  repose; 
and  should  too  much  harmony  prevail  in  the  pic- 
ture, the  effect  will  be  tame,  spiritless,  monotonous 
and  poor. 

By  Contrast  is  meant  opposition  or  difference  of 
either  form,  light  and  shade,  or  colour ;  as  for  ex- 
ample, in  regard  to  form  :  a  round  object  forms  a 
contrast  to  a  square  object,  because  the  one  is  diffe- 
rent or  in  opposition  to  the  other,  inasmuch  as  the 
shape  and  form  of  each  object  are  in  no  way  the 
same.  By  the  same  rule,  light  is  the  contrast  of 
shade,  and  red  of  green,  &c.,  as  will  be  shown 
hereafter. 

By  Harmony  is  meant  the  unity,  agreement  or. 
sameness,  of  either  form,  light  or  shade,  or  colour; 
thus  a  picture  in  which  a  sameness  or  similarity 
of  shapes  and  lines,  of  Hght  or  of  shade,  and  of 
color  prevail,  the  w^hole  will  possess  a  great  deal 
of  harmony,  but  little  effect.  A  picture  is  said  to 
be  out  of  harmony  when  the  contrasts  are  too 
pow^erful  and  not  properly  subdued ;  it  is  some- 
times, though  very  rarely,  applied  to  those  pictures 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


9 


wherein  the  sentiments  do  not  tend  towards  the 
same  end. 

In  studying  effect,  the  student  must  consider 
every  object  in  nature  under  the  three  principal 
heads,  of  form,  light  and  shade,  and  colour,  as  these 
constitute  all  the  qualities  of  objects  which  can  be 
represented  by  a  drawing. 


10 


ON  CONTRAST. 

OF  FORMS. 

Whatever  form  is  different  to  another  is  a  con- 
trast to  it. 

Forms  are  made  by  lines,  and  by  light  and  shade. 
A  horizontal  line  is  contrasted  most  strongly  by  a 
perpendicular  line. 

A  line  is  contrasted  by  any  other  line  which  is 
not  parallel  to  it,  and  which,  if  continued,  would 
intersect  it;  thus  in  Fig.  1.,  the  line  A  B  is  a  con- 
trast to  C  D,  because  if  continued  to  E,  it  would 
intersect  the  line  C  D. 

Fig.l. 

C  ^  B 

A  straight  line  is  intersected  by  any  irregular  or 
crooked  line,  as  also  by  any  curved  line  ;  in  Fig.  2, 
the  straight  line  of  the  bridge  is  contrasted  by  the 

m 


ON  CONTRAST.  OF  FORMS. 


11 


irregular  line  of  the  mountains,  as  well  as  by  the 
curved  lines  of  the  arches. 

Fig.  2. 


A  straight  line  is  also  contrasted  by  an  angle, 
as  in  Fig.  3,  where  the  pyramids  form  a  contrast 
to  the  straightness  of  the  horizontal  line. 

Fig.  3. 


A  curved  line  is  contrasted  either  by  a  straight 
line,  or  a  curved  line  placed  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, as  in  Fig.  4  ;  the  dome  of  the  building  is  con- 
trasted both  by  its  straight  sides  and  the  line  of  the 
clouds,  which  curve  in  a  different  direclion. 


A  serpentine  line  is  best  contrasted  by  any 
straight  line,  as  in  Fig.  5 ;  the  Une  of  houses  forms 
an  opposition  to  the  windings  of  the  river. 


Fig.  5. 


A  heavy  form  is  contrasted  by  a  h'ght  one,  as 
the  heavy  form  of  the  post  in  Fig.  6  is  contrasted 
by  the  Ughtness  of  the  weeds  which  grow  near 
it. 


ON  CONTRAST, 


.  OF  FORMS. 


13 


Fig.  6, 


Any  smooth  flat  surface,  such  as  water,  ice, 
clear  sky,  &c.,  may  be  contrasted  by  the  opposi- 
tion of  any  rough,  massive  form.  Thus  in  Fig.  6, 
the  smoothness  of  the  water  is  contrasted  with  the 
rough  irregular  form  of  the  lumps  of  stone  intro- 
duced into  the  foreground. 

Forms  which  are  square  and  hard  are  best  con- 
trasted by  those  which  are  soft  and  round ;  as  the 
square  tower  in  Fig.  8  is  relieved  by  the  soft  roll- 
ing clouds  which  it  stands  against. 


Fig.  8. 


14 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


The  ragged  forms  of  rocky  mountains  may  also 
be  contrasted  by  the  softness  of  large  rolling  clouds 
as  in  Fig.  5. 

Large  objects  are  contrasted  by  smaller  objects, 
as  in  Fig.  9 ;  the  large  tree  is  rendered  more  con- 
spicuous by  the  introduction  of  the  smaller  ones 
placed  near  it,  and  whose  lightness  of  form  gives 
\  alue  and  weight. 

Fig.  9. 


Long  objects  may  be  contrasted  by  short  ones, 
as  in  Fig.  5,  the  long  line  of  buildings  is  opposed 
by  the  clumps  of  trees  which  come  against  it, 
whilst  the  straight  line  of  the  top  is  contrasted  in 
all  its  length  by  the  irregular  line  of  the  mountain 
behind. 


ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 


15 


A  very  low  horizontal  line  increases  the  height 
of  any  upright  object,  as  in  Fig.  10,  where  the 
figure  is  rendered  of  a  most  gigantic  size,  by  re- 
presenting the  horizontal  line  not  much  higher  than 
the  ankle. 


Fig.  10. 


ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 

Light  and  shade,  or  chiaro-scuro,  may  be  divid- 
ed into  light,  which  springs  immediately  from  the 
object  which  gives  the  Hght,  as  the  sun,  moon, 
candle,  &c.;  reflected  light,  which  is  first  received 
on  one  object,  and  then  thrown  back  on  to  another; 
shade,  which  is  caused  by  the  part  of  the  object 
which  is  in  shade  being  in  such  a  situation  that  it 
cannot  receive  the  light ;  and  shadow,  which  is  the 
absence  of  light  (on  a  part  which  ought  otherwise 
to  receive  the  light)  by  the  intervention  of  an 
opaque  object,  as  in  Fig.  6,  where  a  shadow  is 
thrown  on  a  part  of  the  ground  which  would  be  in 


16 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


light  like  the  rest,  were  it  not  for  the  post  which 
being  opaque,  prevents  the  light  from  reaching  that 
part  of  the  ground,  and  thus  causes  that  absence  of 
light  which  constitutes  shadow. 

Shadows  always  fall  in  a  direction  from  the  ob- 
ject which  gives  light,  as  the  sun,  moon,  &c. 

Reflected  light  is  always  thrown  in  a  different 
direction  to  the  real  light,  and  for  that  reason  al- 
most always  falls  on  the  shade  side  of  objects,  by 
which  they  are  rendered  lighter  than  their  shadows, 
as  in  Fig.  6,  where  the  post  is  lighter  than  the 
shadow  cast  by  it.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
bottom  of  the  shade  sides  of  objects  are  generally 
lighter  than  the  top,  as  receiving  the  reflected  light 
more  powerfully.  It  is  also  occasioned  by  the  con- 
trast of  the  dark  shadow  which  springs  from  it,  as 
every  object  is  rendered  darker  by  the  contrast  of 
any  lighter  object,  every  degree  of  light  and  shade 
possessing  only  a  relative  value,  as  the  same 
strength  of  colour  in  one  part  of  a  picture  consti- 
tutes a  bright  light,  whilst  in  another  part  it  forms 
a  deep  shade. 

It  is  also  the  custom  in  describing  a  picture  in 
regard  to  effect,  to  divide  all  the  different  degrees 
of  light  and  shade,  into  the  light,  the  dark,  and  the 
middle  tint,  of  which  latter  there  is  generally  the 
most  in  a  well  painted  picture,  as  the  middle  tint 
includes  the  generality  of  shade,  as  well  as  all  the 
reflected  lights. 


ON  THE  NATURE  OF  CONTRAST. 


17 


ON  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  CONTRAST  OF  LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 

Light  is  the  contrast  of  shade,  and  shade  is  the 
contrast  of  light. 

A  dark  shade  is  a  contrast  to  a  h'ghter  shade ; 
and  vice  versa. 

A  bright  hght  is  a  contrast  to  any  other  light 
which  is  not  so  bright. 

Small  and  agitated  lights  are  best  contrasted  by- 
large  dull  fiat  shades,  as  in  Fig.  11,  where  the  flit- 
tering light  of  the  flying  spray  at  the  bottom  of  the 
rocks  is  well  contrasted  by  the  sombre  stillness  of 
the  dark  rocks  against  which  it  beats. 

Fig.  11. 


A  mass  of  buildings  which  are  in  shade  may  be 
relieved  and  contrasted  by  perforations  which  ad- 
mit of  light,  as  in  Fig.  12,  w^here  the  dark  side  of 
the  ruined  abbey  is  reliev^ed,  and  rendered  less 
heavy  by  the  windows  through  which  is  seen  the 
light  of  the  evening  sky. 

2# 


18 


THE  THEjRY  of  EFFECT, 
Fig.  12. 


The  strongest  contrast  to  a  light  is  by  making 
that  Hght  the  only  hght  in  the  picture,  all  the  rest 
being  in  shade. 

A  square  flat  shade  is  best  contrasted  by  any 
small  irregular  lights,  as  in  Fig.  13;  the  squareness 
of  the  tomb  is  contrasted  by  the  light  leaves  of  the 
bramble  which  hang  over  it. 

Fig.  13. 


Every  light  or  shade  may  be  contrasted  by  a 
light  or  shade  of  a  different  form,  according  to 
rules  given  for  contrast  of  form. 


ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  COLOUR. 


19 


ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  COLOUR. 

There  are  three  primitive  colours,  with  which 
all  colours  may  be  made ;  these  colours  are  yellow, 
blue,  and  red,  each  of  which,  if  perfect,  is  entirely 
free  from  any  mixture  of  either  of  the  above 
colours. 

Now,  as  all  these  colours,  if  perfect,  are  entirely 
free  from  any  mixture  of  another  colour,  so  each 
colour  forms  a  contrast  to  the  other  two  ;  as  for 
example,  a  perfect  red,  having  no  mixture  of  either 
blue  or  yellow  in  it,  is  by  this  reason  a  contrast  to 
either  of  those  colours,  and  so  on  in  regard  to  the 
rest.  These  contrasts  are  called  simple  contrasts ; 
but  as  each  primitive  colour  has  two  others  to  con- 
trast it,  so  these  two  contrasting  colours,  when 
mixed  together  form  a  double  contrast.  For  ex- 
ample, red  is  contrasted  both  by  blue  and  yellow; 
blue  and  yellow  mixed  together  form  a  green, 
therefore  green  is  the  strongest  contrast  to  red. 
The  following  is  a  table  of  the  primitive  colours, 
the  simple  contrasts,  and  the  compound  contrasts. 


Primitive  Colours. 

Red. 
Yellow. 
Blue. 


Simple  Contrasts. 

Yellow,  ) 

Blue.  \ 

(    Blue,  ) 

I    Red.  \ 

\    Red,  ) 

I  Yellow,  \ 


Compound  Contrasts. 

Green. 
Purple. 
Orange. 


20 


TIIK  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


Thus  the  simple  contrasts  to  red,  are  yellow  and 
blue,  which  mixed  together,  form  green,  the  double 
contrast  of  red. 

The  simple  contrasts  of  yellow,  are  blue  and  red, 
which  mixed  together,  form  purple,  the  strongest 
contrast  of  yellow. 

The  simple  contrasts  of  blue,  are  red  and  yellow, 
which  mixed  together,  form  orange,  the  strongest 
contrast  to  blue. 

The  following  scheme  will  exemplify  the  three 
simple  colours,  yellow,  blue,  and  red,  and  the 
three  compounds,  green,  purple,  and  orange,  which 
form  the  contrasts  to  the  simple  colours,  whilst  the 
union  of  the  three  simple  colours,  producing  grey, 
is  seen  in  the  centre. 


ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  GREYS, 


21 


By  drawing  three  circles,  and  colouring  them  as 
marked  on  the  opposite  page,  the  student  will  get 
the  correct  idea  of  these  contrasts. 

We  will  observe,  that  all  mixtures  of  the  three 
primitive  colours  we  shall  call  greys ;  dividing 
them  into  red  greys,  green  greys,  yellow  greys, 
purple  greys,  blue  greys,  and  orange  greys,  accord- 
ing as  they  approach  nearest  to  the  different  simple 
colours  and  compounds. 

ON  THE  CONTRAST  OF  GREYS. 

The  gentlest  contrast  of  green  greys,  are  yellow 
greys,  and  blue  greys ;  the  next,  orange  greys,  and 
purple  greys  ;  and  the  strongest  contrasts  are  red 
greys,  and  vice  versa. 

The  gentlest  contrasts  of  orange  greys,  are  red 
greys,  and  yellow  greys ;  next,  purple  greys,  and 
green  greys;  and  the  strongest  are  blue  greys,  and 
vice  versa. 

The  gentlest  contrasts  of  purple  greys,  are  blue 
greys,  and  red  greys ;  the  next,  orange  greys,  and 
green  greys ;  and  the  strongest,  are  yellow  greys. 

Every  grey  is  contrasted  by  a  primitive  colour, 
and  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  according  as  that 
grey  possesses  in  its  mixture  a  less  or  greater  de- 
gree of  the  colour  it  is  meant  to  contrast.  For  ex- 
ample, a  red  forms  a  strong  contrast  to  a  green 
grey,  whilst  it  forms  a  very  feeble  contrast  to  a 
red  grey,  with  which  it  is  said  to  harmonize. 

It  may  be  observed  here,  that  it  is  impossible  to 


22 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


draw  the  exact  line  which  separates  contrast  from 
harmony,  as  it  entirely  depends  on  circumstances ; 
the  value  of  forms,  of  light,  and  shade,  and  of 
colours,  being  entirely  relative. 

Every  colour  may  be  contrasted  by  another 
colour  of  a  different  form.  In  this  case,  however, 
the  contrast  is  not  in  the  colour,  but  in  the  form. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  contrast  of  a  dark 
and  light  tint  of  the  same  colour,  the  contrast  being 
then  a  contrast  of  light  and  shade,  and  not  of  colour. 

In  considering  the  three  primitive  colours,  yellow 
may  be  considered  as  light,  red  as  middle  tint,  and 
blue  as  dark  ;  again,  yellow  is  a  warm  colour,  red 
neither  loarm  nor  cold,  and  blue  is  a  cold  colour. 
Of  all  the  colours,  simple  and  compound,  orange 
is  the  warmest,  and  blue  the  coldest ;  by  which  it 
will  be  seen,  that  all  warm  colours  are  contrasts  to 
cold  colours. 

By  an  attentive  perusal  of  the  foregoing  pages, 
at  the  same  time  carefully  studying  the  examples 
which  have  been  given,  the  student  will  be  enabled 
in  a  few  hours  to  acquire  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  different  contrasts  of  form,  of  light  and  shade, 
and  of  colour.  Indeed,  the  study  of  contrast  re- 
quires nothing  more  than  to  comprehend  thoroughly 
the  meaning  of  the  word,  as  the  differences  of  light 
and  shade,  and  of  forms  are  self-evident,  as  are 
also  the  differences  of  colours,  after  the  student  has 
learnt  that  there  are  only  three  primitive  colours, 
each  of  which  differs  from  the  other  two. 


23 


ON  HARMONY. 

Harmony  consists  in  a  sameness  or  similarity  of 
forms  of  light  and  shade,  and  of  colour.  Thus,  in 
regard  to  forms: 

Every  line  is  in  harmony  with  another  when  it 
runs  parallel  with  it,  whether  it  be  a  straight  or  a 
curved  line ;  thus,  in  the  annexed  figure,  there  ex- 
ists a  perfect  harmony  in  the  lines  of  the  two 
mountains,  which  follow  one  another,  and  in  the 
straight  lines  of  the  two  rows  of  houses  and  square 
lumps  of  stone  in  the  foreground,  and  the  straight 
lines  of  the  water. 

Fig.  14. 


From  this  example,  the  student  will  readily  per- 
ceive what  is  meant  by  harmony  of  forms ;  in  the 
same  way,  the  harmony  of  light  and  shade  exists 


24 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


in  a  picture,  where  the  lights  or  shades  are  of  the 
same  degree  of  strength  throughout. 

With  regard  to  the  harmony  of  colours,  the 
same  simplicity  exists  and  consists  in  a  sameness 
of  tints,  which  pervade  the  whole  of  a  picture. 
Thus,  when  a  drawing  or  painting  exhibits  a  gene- 
ral tone  of  green,  red,  yellow,  grey,  &c.,  it  pos- 
sesses a  great  deal  of  harmony,  for  a  colour  bears 
the  greatest  harmony  towards  itself,  as  red  to  red, 
after  which  those  colours  which  have  the  greatest 
mixture  of  red  in  them,  such  as  orange,  red 
greys,  &c. 

The  above  explanations,  though  short,  will  be 
sufficient  to  show  the  meaning  of  harmony ;  the 
proper  union  of  which,  with  the  rules  of  contrast, 
constitute  what  is  generally  termed  effect ;  which 
is  more  fully  treated  on,  in  the  comprehensive  ex- 
tracts from  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  in  another  por- 
tion of  the  book. 


25 


ON  EFFECT, 

In  speaking  of  the  contrast  of  forms,  I  have  in- 
troduced many  objects  as  contrasting  otiiers,  when 
the  opposition  was  not  perfect,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
more  or  less  broken  by  a  mixture  of  harmony ;  for 
instance,  I  have  said,  that  "  any  line,  which  if 
continued,  would  cross  another  line,  is  a  contrast 
to  that  line so  it  is  :  but  unless  that  line  cross  the 
other  at  right  angles,  the  contrast  is  not  perfect,  but 
inclines  more  or  less  towards  harmony,  in  propor- 
tion as  the  line  approximates  towards  a  parallel 
situation ;  indeed,  all  the  examples  of  contrast 
which  I  have  given,  are  so  mingled  with  a  certain 
proportion  of  harmony,  that  they  may  all  of  them 
be  introduced  without  any  fear  of  rendering  the 
picture  disturbed.  In  making  a  drawing,  the  most 
powerful  contrast,  as  well  of  light  and  shade  and 
colour,  as  of  form,  ought  to  exist  in  the  principal 
object,  whilst  all  the  other  parts  are  kept  subdued, 
so  that  the  eye  may  rest  undisturbed  on  what  forms 
the  subject  of  the  picture,  without  being  called 
away  by  the  superior  brilliancy  or  force  of  some 
other  object  of  less  importance.  The  student  must 
recollect  that  two  principal  objects  of  equal  force 
or  size,  or  of  the  same  colour,  ought  never  to  exist 
.1 


26 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


ia  a  picture,  but  that  one  object,  whatever  it  rnay 
be,  ought  to  be  the  principal,  and  all  the  rest  sub- 
servient to  it. 

Much,  however,  will  depend  on  the  nature  of  the 
subject  of  which  the  drawing  is  composed ;  in  por- 
traits, the  effect  is  often  thrown  on  the  face,  every 
oiher  part  being  made  as  little  prominent  as  possi- 
ble, whilst,  on  the  contrary,  in  landscape,  many  of 
the  objects  approach  nearer  to  that  of  the  principal 
one,  not  only  in  colour,  but  also  in  force. 

In  considering  the  effect  of  colours,  particular 
regard  must  be  had  to  the  kind  of  weather  which 
is  supposed  to  be  represented,  if  the  subject  be  a 
landscape ;  and  in  other  subjects,  what  the  nature 
of  the  object  is  which  gives  the  light,  whether  it  be 
the  sun,  fire,  or  candle,  and  whether  the  light  be 
reflected  or  direct,  and  if  reflected,  whether  from 
a  warm  coloured  object,  or  cold  coloured  object, 
as  it  is  on  the  nature  of  the  light  that  that  general 
hue  which  gives  harmony  to  a  picture  depends. 
As  an  example,  suppose  the  subject  is  a  landscape, 
in  which  the  setting  sun,  amid  red  and  yellow 
clouds,  is  the  object  Vv^hich  gives  the  light : — in  this 
case,  the  light  side  of  every  object  will  possess  a 
warm  yellow  tint,  and  should  any  thing  be  repre- 
sented, of  which  the  light  side  is  cold,  a  want  of 
harmony  would  be  the  immediate  consequence. 
,  Notwithstanding  this,  many,  indeed  I  might  say  all 

of  the  best  artists,  who  have  ever  painted  moon- 


ON  EFFECT. 


27 


light,  have  generally  introduced  a  fire  into  some 
part  of  their  pictures,  the  red  light  of  which  is  so 
different  from  the  cold  beams  of  the  moon,  that  I 
always  think  that  that  part  of  the  picture  which 
derives  its  light  from  the  fire,  looks  like  the  piece 
of  another  painting  cut  out  and  stuck  against  the 
moonlight. 

In  representing  a  landscape  lighted  by  the  rising 
sun,  every  object  ought  to  be  represented  cooler 
than  when  the  sun  is  setting,  as  the  light  of  the 
former  is  generally  more  clear  and  cold  than  that 
of  the  latter. 

With  regard  to  the  colouring  either  of  land- 
scapes or  other  subjects,  the  greatest  contrast 
ought  to  be  observed  in  the  principal  object ;  thus, 
if  the  subject  be  some  particular  building,  it  may 
be  represented  with  a  bright  yellow  light  upon  it, 
whilst  dark  clouds  of  a  cold  blue  grey  thrown  be- 
hind it,  will  render  it  more  conspicuous  than  other 
parts  of  the  picture  where  the  contrasts  are  less 
forcible. 

When  the  colouring  of  any  part  of  a  drawing 
looks  dirty  through  want  of  clearness,  some  arti- 
ficial object  of  vivid  colours  placed  against  it  will 
destroy  the  dinginess  which  would  otherwise  ex- 
ist ;  for  instance,  should  the  colouring  of  a  field  look 
dark,  dirty,  and  want  transparency,  a  figure  placed 
against  it,  dressed  in  a  white  jacket,  striped  with 


28 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


lake,  and  yellow  or  blue  coloured  trowsers,  will 
render  it  less  opaque. 

From  the  above  observations,  the  student  will 
find  that  effect  depends  on  contrast,  more  or  less 
subdued  by  harmony,  and  that  a  knowledge  of 
effect  depends  entirely  on  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  different  contrasts  of  form,  light,  and  shade, 
and  colour ;  all,  therefore,  that  the  student  will  have 
to  attend  to  in  studying  the  principles  of  effect,  is 
to  obtain  a  perfect  knowledge  of  contrast,  a  thing 
in  itself  the  most  easy  that  can  possibly  be,  as  the 
very  word  may  be  said  to  explain  its  principles. 
The  arrangement  or  subduing  of  contrast  will  be 
easily  learnt,  (to  a  certain  degree,)  by  the  rules 
given  in  this  worL 


29 


HINTS  FROM  VARIOUS  ARTISTS  UPON 
COLOUR  AND  EFFECT. 

WATER  AND  !TS  REFLECTIONS.* 

Water  is  not  involved  in  the  same  obscurity 
with  atmosphere  and  colour,  and  the  laws  which 
regulate  its  appearances  may  be  soon  learnt;  and 
those  appearances  are  all,  or  nearly  so,  with  which 
the  painter  has  to  busy  himself. 

Its  three  principal  states  are  perfect  transpa- 
rency, perfect  opacity,  and  a  state  between  the 
two — ^^semi-transparency. 

1.  In  the  first,  it  is  capable  of  receiving  perfect 
reflections,  and  incapable  of  receiving  any  shadows. 

2.  In  the  middle  state  it  is  capable  of  receiving 
both  reflections  and  shadows,  but  neither  of  them 
perfect — that  is,  but  at  half  their  natural  force, 

3.  In  the  last  it  is  capable  of  receiving  perfect 
shadows,  and  incapable  of  receiving  any  reflec- 
tions. 

I  feel  that  to  go  through  a  number  of  other  inter- 
mediate states  would  be  only  to  state  that  which  is 
obvious,  and  to  waste  time ;  therefore,  speaking  of 


*  "Letters  on  Landscape,  by  J.  B.  Pyne,"  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  of  English  Landscape  Painters. 

8* 


80 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


the  power  to  receive  reflections  and  shadows,  it 
can  do  perfectly  but  one  at  one  time  and  in  one 
state. 

Where  it  loses  the  powder  of  receiving  the  one,  it 
gains  the  power  of  receiving  the  other;  the  loss 
and  gain  bearing  an  exact  ratio.  In  this  manner 
water,  under  a  loss  of  one-fourth  of  its  transpa- 
rency, loses  one-fourth  of  its  power  to  reflect :  re- 
ceives a  shadow  of  one-fourth,  and  a  reflection  of 
three-fourths,  of  their  natural  force ;  and  so  on  in 
perfectly  just  proportions. 

Water,  to  be  perfectly  clear,  must  be  perfectly 
colourless  (not  that  it  at  all  follows  that  perfectly 
colourless  water  is  perfectly  clear,  as  it  is  perfectly 
colourless  when  suffused  with  chalk;)  and,  though 
some  waters  holding  colouring  matter  in  solution 
may  be  of  an  admirable  clearness,  they  are,  not- 
withstanding, deprived  of  part  of  their  clearness, 
and  work  accordingly  some  serious  changes  upon 
the  reflections  received  in  them. 

Semi-opaque  water,  that  is,  w^ater  holding  in 
suffusion — not  solution — any  hght  opaque  matter, 
such  as  chalk  or  light  coloured  mud,  presents  some 
appearances  quite  distinct  from  anything  that  may 
occur  under  any  circumstances  to  water  holding 
transparent  colouring  matter  in  solution  only. 

Water  under  this  last  state — transparent  and 
coloured — is  little,  if  at  all,  affected  by  sunlight; 
w^hether  it  be  under  a  full  blaze  of  light,  or,  on  the 


HINTS  FROM  ARTISTS  UPON  COLOUR  AND  EFFECT.  31 


contrary,  under  dense  shadow,  it  continues  to  re- 
flect objects  with  the  same  precision  in  both  cases. 

I  am  at  present  speaking  of  water  in  a  perfectly 
undisturbed  state,  for  a  sharp  windripple  on  its  sur- 
face w^ould  of  course  at  once  alter  the  case,  and 
render  it  capable  of  receiving  shadows  nearly  as 
sharp  and  distinct  as  would  a  turnpike  road. 

A  river,  charged  with  this  light  colouring  matter 
up  to  the  point  of  semi-opacity,  comes,  when  in 
shadow,  under  the  state  marked  3  ;  and  possesses 
its  power  of  receiving  both  reflections  and  shadows 
up  to  fifty  per  cent,  of  their  actual  force.  But 
when  under  full  and  intense  sunlight — and  this  cir- 
cumstance is  one  which  in  an  eminent  degree 
proves  the  opaciating  influence  of  light — it  is  at 
once  thrown  into,  or  very  nearly  into,  the  state 
marked  2,  and  necessarily  refuses  any  reflections. 

If  the  banks,  hills,  or  other  objects  forming  one 
side  of  the  river,  were  to  throw  their  shadows  on 
its  surface,  half-reflections  would  be  received  up  to 
the  limits  of  the  line  of  shadow,  and  no  further ; 
and  should  any  shadows  extend  further  than  any 
objects  which  would,  under  other  circumstances, 
reflect,  the  shadows  themselves  would  be  distinctly 
marked. 

A  shght  diagram  will  save  me  some  writing,  and 
perhaps  explain  more  fully  what  I  mean. 


Suppose  1,  a  piece  of  water  under  the  last-de- 
scribed circumstances,  suffused  with  light  colour- 
ing matter  up  to  the  point  of  semi-opacity ;  and  2 
an  object  rising  out  of  it,  with  the  sun  before  you 
to  the  left.  As  far  as  the  shadow  of  this  object 
extends  on  the  water,  it  will  be  semi-transparent, 
and  receive  modified,  or  what  may  be  very  pro- 
perly called  half  reflections  of  anything  falling 


HINTS  FROM  ARTISTS  UPON  COLOUR  AND  EFFECT.  33 


within  the  optical  conditions  regulating  reflections. 
The  dotted  line  indicates  the  general  form  of  that 
reflection  which  would  occur  in  clear  water;  3,  4, 
5,  7,  8,  6,  the  general  form  of  the  shadow  left  upon 
the  water  by  the  object  2 ;  3,  4,  5,  6,  that  portion 
of  it  only  which  would  be  occupied  by  its  reflec- 
tion; and  5,  7,  8,  6,  that  part  of  the  shadow  which, 
falling  beyond  the  reflecting  limits  of  the  object, 
becomes  a  flat  and  even  piece  of  shadow.  Sup- 
pose the  boat  to  the  right  to  have  a  thin  white  sail, 
which,  under  the  circumstance  of  the  sun  shining 
through  it,  would  become  a  brilliant  light ;  this 
again  would  be  reflected  within  the  limits  of  the 
shadow. 

Now,  having  settled  the  linear  part  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  will  be  easy  to  explain  the  other  circum- 
stances which  govern  the  appearances  of  the 
shadows  and  reflections  of  such  objects.  They 
are  three.  The  amount  of  opacity  of  the  water, 
its  colour,  and  its  depth. 

Charge  your  mind,  firstly,  with  these  generals 
aflfecting  opaque  reflecting  mediums,  whether  water 
or  anything  else,  liquid  or  solid. 

If  the  object  reflecting  be  darker  than  the  local 
depth  of  the  water,  the  reflection  must  be,  and  al- 
ways is,  lighter  than  the  object ;  and  if  the  object 
be  lighter  than  the  water,  the  reflection  will  be 
darker. 

If  the  object  be  more  transparent  than  the  water, 


34 


THE  THEORY  0^  EFFECT. 


which  is  frequently  the  case,  the  reflection  will  be 
more  opaque  than  the  object,  and,  vice  versa,  when 
the  object  is  more  opaque  than  the  water,  the  re- 
flection necessarily  becomes  more  transparent  than 
the  object.  You  can,  I  am  quite  certain,  go 
through  the  coloured  conditions  of  opaque  waters 
yourself,  but  two  minutes'  writing  will  explain  it. 
When,  therefore,  the  reflecting  object  happens  to 
be  more  coloured  than  the  local  character  of  the 
water,  the  reflection  is  less  coloured  than  the  ob- 
ject; and  when  the  water  possesses  more  colour 
than  the  object,  the  reflection  becomes  charged 
with  the  colour  of  the  water  itself  And  occasion- 
ally all  three  conditions  operate  on  the  reflection 
of  an  object  at  the  same  time. 

Thus  a  reflection  may  be  either  more  transpa- 
rent, dark,  and  coloured,  or  more  opaque,  light, 
and  colourless,  than  the  object  causing  it. 

This  is  without  reference  to  the  many  motions 
and  consequent  forms  incident  to  an  element  so 
liquid  and  exquisitely  mobile  as  water,  and  which, 
without  entirely  upsetting  the  foregoing  laws  of 
still  water,  modify  them  in  a  great  many  ways, 
and  to  an  extent  not  perhaps  to  be  dreamt  of  by  a 
person  who,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  sits  down 
— under  the  shadow  of  an  old  wall — before  a  cow- 
pond,  an  elder  tree,  and  a  piece  of  broken  paling, 
with  a  piece  of  Watman's  paper  in  a  quarter  im- 
perial folio  on  his  knees !    But  to  the  point  again. 


HINTS  FROM  ARTISTS  UPON  COLOUR  AND  EFFECT.  35 


I  will  carry  out  for  you  this  little  diagram  some- 
what further  before  quitting  the  water. 

We  must  fix  upon  its  depth — I  mean  not  its 
**profond,"  but  its  amount  of  darkness.  Let  it  be  for 
simplicity's  sake,  exactly  middle  tint.  Its  colour? 
Let  that  be,  I  was  about  saying,  drab ;  that  is  un- 
pleasant; stone  colour,  that  is  dull ;  mud,  that  is  in- 
definite, as  are  the  other  two  :  let  it  be  the  colour 
of  cork ;  that  is  of  a  pleasant  character  as  regards 
colour,  and  its  associations  are  pleasant  also — it  is 
not  to  be  forgotten  as  the  others  are  ;  it  is  the  colour 
of  the  Severn,  the  Avon,  the  Tiber,  and  many  other 
warm-coloured  muddy  rivers,  which  have  more 
beauties  in  them  than  are  generally  allowed  by  the 
lovers  of  clear  water,  and  have  been  described  by 
the  poets  as  golden,  amber-coloured,  yellow,  mel- 
low, roseate,  &c.,  as — one  may  suppose — the 
rhyme  may  require. 

Let  the  side  of  the  object  marked  9  be  a  pure 
white ;  so  that,  notwithstanding  its  being  in  shade, 
its  apparent  local  depth  may  be  still  much  lighter 
than  the  actual  local  depth  of  the  water.  This 
would  be  the  case  in  nature,  if  the  sky  at  your  back 
were  white,  instead  of  clear  blue  or  dark  clouds. 
Locally  white  itself,  and  lighted  by  the  bright  and 
colourless  sky  behind,  this  face  of  the  object  would 
be  very  light  although  in  shadow,  and  tolerably 
free  from  colour.  Its  reflection,  on  the  contrary, 
received  in  water  of  the  colour  of  cork,  and  of  the 


36 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


depth  of  middle  tint,  would  be  of  a  light  cork 
colour,  or,  of  what  may  be  more  specifically 
named,  a  quarter  tint  of  cork  colour.  Nothing  in 
shadow  can  be  perfectly  opaque ;  but  the  face  9, 
itself  locally  white  and  strongly  reflected  on  from 
clouds  of  its  own  colour,  though  not  quite  opaque, 
would  be  so  nearly  so  as  to  present  a  very  wide 
distinction  between  the  opacity  of  itself  and  the 
semi-transparency  of  the  water.  The  character, 
then,  of  this  part  of  the  reflection  as  regards  trans- 
parency, would  be  somewhat  more  than  a  quarter 
transparency,  or  somewhat  less  than  a  three-quar- 
ter opacity.  The  reflection  here  then  is,  in  broad 
terms,  darker,  more  coloured,  more  transparent 
than  its  object. 

The  aperture  to  the  right  of  9,  let  us  suppose, 
for  the  sake  of  explicit  and  easy  terms,  to  be  black 
and  perfectly  transparent.  The  reflection  under 
these  circumstances — that  is,  full  shade  and  per- 
fect transparency,  received  in  half  shade  and  semi- 
transparency — would  be  three-quarter  transparent, 
or  a  quarter  opiaque.  As  regards  depth  it  would  be 
dark  middle  tint ;  and  as  regards  colour  it  would 
be,  like  face  9,  more  coloured  than  its  object. 

The  reflection  of  face  9  differed  from  its  object 
in  being  darker,  more  transparent,  and  more 
coloured.  This  last  reflection  differs  from  its  ob- 
ject in  being  lighter,  less  transparent,  and  more 
coloured. 


BINTS  FROM  ARTISTS  UPJN  THEORY  AND  EFFECT.  ^^7 

Let  the  end  10  be  deep  vermilion  in  colour,  so 
that,  allowing  for  reflection  from  the  same  sky 
which  lighted  the  face  9,  its  depth  should  be  just 
middle  tint.  The  reflection  of  this  part  as  regards 
depth,  will  not  be  distinguishable  from  its  object ;  for 
middle  tint  of  any  colour,  received  in  middle  tint 
of  any  other  colour,  wil]  experience  no  other  alter- 
ation in  depth. 

As  regards  the  colour  of  this  part,  the  conditions 
are  quite  changed  from  those  which  regulate  the 
face  9  and  its  aperture.  The  object  in  this  case  is 
much  more  coloured  than  the  water.  The  reflec- 
tion in  this  instance  will  be  much  less  coloured 
than  the  surface  reflected,  and  in  just  the  same 
proportion  as  the  colour  of  the  water  may  be  of  a 
character  less  positive  and  active,  than  the  red  of 
the  object  reflected.  I  think  I  said  before,  that 
the  remainder  of  the  shadow,  which  projects  itself 
to  the  right  beyond  the  limits  of  reflection,  be 
a  perfectly  flat  piece  of  shadow. 

A  person  noticing  for  the  first  time  the  effect  of 
coloured  water — whether  transparent  or  opaque — 
will  be  very  likely  to  run  away  with  the  impression 
that  the  w^hole  of  the  reflections  are  tinged  to  one 
certain  amount  by  the  colour  of  the  water — that  is, 
that  they  receive  a  certain  per  centage  of  such 
colour,  let  the  objects  reflected  be  ever  so  varied. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  case,  and  it  very  fre- 
quently happens  that,  not  until  after  some  failures 
4 


38 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


in  representing  such  effects,  and  going  back  to 
nature  frequently  for  fresh  authority  in  close  studies, 
the  discovery  is  made  that  various  colours  are 
variously  effected — tinged  by — variously  coloured 
waters.  A  great  deal  of  unnecessary  confusion 
thus  disturbs  one's  progress  to  truthful  representa- 
tion, all  to  be  the  more  lamented  when  the  truth 
happens  to  be  a  beauty  as  well ;  and,  as  regards 
water,  its  truths  and  constantly  changing  character- 
istics have  in  them  a  greater  proportion  of  beauties 
out  of  any  given  number  of  effects  or  states,  than 
any  else  I  know  of  in  nature,  sky  not  excepted. 

I  will  give  you  an  instance  as  regards  myself, 
and  that  will  perhaps  reconcile  you  to  what  I  feel 
myself  to  be  somewhat  p^^/z^e  and  wearisome  in  this 
particularizing  on  so  small  a  scale  of  incident,  and 
at  the  same  time  prove  how  necessary  it  is  to  well 
know  nature  before  you  can  go  to  her,  palatte  on 
thumb,  with  anything  like  a  chance  of  success  in 
any  but  a  very  slight  hand-gallop  style  of  art. 

Early  in  my  painting  life,  I  sat  down  to  a  piece 
of  green  coloured  nearly  transparent  water,  tran- 
quil enough  to  receive  perfect  reflections  as  to 
form,  and  coloured  enough  to  at  once  strike  me 
forcibly  wdth  the  beauty  of  its  chromatic  phenom- 
ena, in  the  great  difference  between  the  colour  of 
the  objects  themselves,  and  their  reflections. 

With  this  imperfect  impression  of  the  partial  or 
efficient,  reflectability  of  red,  I  fell  across  a  piece 


HINTS  FROM  ARTISTS  UPON  COLOUR  AND  EFFECT.  39 


of  reddish  golden  coloured  water,  in  which  the 
reds  were  reflected  perfectly,  as  where  the  orange 
and  yellow-coloured  objects ;  upon  which  the  laws 
regulating  coloured  reflections,  in  both  transparent 
and  turbid  coloured  waters,  opened  upon  me  at 
once. 

They  operate  in  this  manner;  — all  waters,  of 
whatsoever  colour  they  may  be,  reflect  those 
colours  most  perfectly  which  are  first  identical, 
and  next  those  which  most  closely  affinitize 
with  the  colour  of  the  water  itself;  and  least  per- 
fectly, those  colours  which  are  diametrically  op- 
posed to  the  colour  of  the  water. 


40 


EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  ON  LAND- 
SCAPES, BY  J.  B.  PYNE. 

REFLECTIONS. 

The  quantities  of  any  series  of  objects  seen  re- 
flected upon  still  water,  are  always  precisely  the 
same  quantities  of  the  objects  themselves,  as  niight 
be  seen  from  a  point  removed  as  far  below  the 
surface  as  the  actual  point  of  sight  is  elevated 
above  such  surface. 

We  must  first  of  all  bear  in  mind  distinctly, 
that  reflections  cannot  ever  be  arbitrary.  They 
may,  under  some  instances  of  extreme  complica- 
tion, become  every  thing  but  unaccountable. 

The  front  object  in  a  scene,  will  of  course  be 
first  reflected;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  another 
which  is  much  higher  niust  be  reflected  also,  for  it 
will  depend  upon  the  distance  at  which  it  is  situat- 
ed beyond  the  one  in  front. 

The  higher  you  raise  your  station,  the  more 
you  see  of  the  distant  and  higher  object,  and  the 
less  of  their  reflections  ;  and  the  lower  and  farther 
oflfyou  place  yourself,  the  less  you  see  of  the  higher 
and  distant  objects,  and  the  more  of  their  reflec- 
tions. 

It  is  often  the  case  with  painters,  after  having 


EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  ON  LANDSCAPES.  41 

sketched  or  studied  a  scene  from  nature  at  a  time 
when  the  water  was  not  in  a  state  to  receive  re- 
flections, that  they  somewhat  alter  the  treatment 
when  at  home,  and  add  the  reflections ;  and  it  too 
frequently  happens  that  the  whole  scene — if  not 
considered  so — is  treated  as  so  much  surface  on 
one  plain.  Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  painter's  life  being  to  create  pictures,  the 
whole  scene,  sky  included,  is  treated  as  a  picture 
also,  and  reflected  as  such  from  the  water-line 
downwards;  than  which  it  is  impossible  for  any- 
thing to  be  more  erroneous. 

There  is,  in  fact,  much  danger  and  mischief 
in  going  to  nature  too  unprepared.  There  is  an 
absolute  necessity  that  that  part  of  the  subject  upon 
which  we  are  now  in  communication  should  be 
thoroughly  understood,  if  not  gone  through  mathe- 
matically, in  order  that  one  may  not  be  taken  un- 
awares by  some  of  the  palpable  common  places  of 
natural  appearances. 

Without  a  continued  discipline  of  this  nature, 
there  are  many  things  constantly  turning  up  in  the 
course  of  a  season's  study  for  which  one  is  not 
prepared  readfly,  and  on  the  instant,  to  account; 
and  this  necessarily  occasions  much  hesitation,  pot- 
tering about,  and  undecided  and  often  erroneous 
painting. 

Amongst  these  things  nothing  is  more  puzzling, 
4* 


4-2 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


at  first  sight,  than  some  of  the  incidents  attending 
reflections. 

For  instance,  some  objects  which  appear  on 
the  landscape  dark  are  reflected  as  light,  and  others 
which  relieve  light  on  the  landscape  have  a  dark 
reflection.  Some  colours  are  most  essentially  mo- 
dified, and  occasionally  quiie  altered  in  reflection ; 
and  some  objects,  even  at  the  water's  edge,  which 
present  a  broad  face  to  the  view,  have  no  reflec- 
tion;  while  others,  of  w^hich  you  can  only  see  an 
edge  of  point,  have  their  whole  length  in  perfect 
reflection. 

The  rule  follows  thus : — all  surfaces  which  run 
in  a  right  line  with  any  possible  angle  of  incidence, 
cannot  be  reflected,  although  seen.  And  all  sur- 
faces running  in  a  right  line  with  any  possible 
angle  of  accidence  cannot  be  seen,  although  their 
whole  length  may  be  reflected." 

COLOUR. 

Colour  presents  more  of  debateable  ground 
than  any  other  subject  that  may  be  entered  on.  It 
has  been,  of  all  others,  the  least  satisfactorily  hand- 
led by  the  waiters  upon  art.  The  reason  of  this  is, 
that  as  regards  the  arts,  powerful  chromatic  feel- 
ing and  organization,  as  in  the  case  of  Titian,  have 
appeared  in  their  maturity,  while  the  science  of 
chromatics  until  the  last  few  years,  has  lingered  in 
its  infancy ;  and  in  its  present  state,  it  still  remains  ^ 


COLOUR. 


43 


a  sealed  book  as  regards  the  requirements  of  the 
painter,  and  as  presenting  a  site  of  well-defined 
powers,  productive  of  certain,  definite,  and  varied 
chromatic  expressions.  Pictures,  and  the  diflerent 
scales  of  difl^erent  masters  have  been  analyzed  wiih 
the  utmost  minuteness ;  but  the  result  of  such  labour 
up  to  the  present  time,  has  been  attended  with  no 
better  success,  than  that  of  children  who  have 
taken  to  pieces  their  parents'  watches.  Analysis 
has  gone  on  producing  nothing  but  wreck,  and  no 
synthesis  has  grown  out  of  the  confusion.  When, 
indeed,  we  think  of  the  requisite  varied  power  and 
qualifications  of  the  mind,  capable  of  throwing  all 
the  necessary  Hght  on  this  subject,  which  is  want- 
ed by  the  painter  in  search  of  high  intentionality 
and  expression,  we  may  not  wonder  that  it  has  not 
yet  been  done  ;  and,  though  I  intend  exposing  to 
you  as  plainly  as  possible  the  views  by  which 
(though  not  invariably)  my  practice  has  been 
guided,  I  must  at  the  same  time  warn  you  against 
the  expectation  of  that  complete  system,  I  so  much 
regret  the  want  of,  and  to  produce  which,  would 
require  in  one  individual  the  several  united  powers 
of  the  greatest  colourists,  and  the  greatest  natural 
and  moral  philosophers,  and  all  blended  into  one 
lucid,  and  eloquent,  and  logical  intelligence  by  a 
power  of  writing  that  falls  to  the  share  of  but  few. 

While  you  are,  on  the  other  hand,  cautioned 
against  a  two  implicit  reliance,  (not  from  any 


44 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


doubts  of  my  own,  but  from  the  circumstances 
merely  of  my  own  view^s  being  somew^hat  opposed 
to  those  of  others,)  1  must,  on  the  other  hand,  and 
to  save  time,  be  allowed  to  advance  them  without 
qualification,  or  a  circumlocution  that  would  mere- 
ly convey  but  an  equivocal  impression  of  my  pos- 
sible modesty. 

Any  picture,  to  convey  an  idea  of,  or  administer 
to,  any  one  particular  sentiment  or  expression, 
should  be  of  some  one  particular  definable  tone  or 
colour,  which  should  as  it  were,  and  in  defiance  of 
the  other  colours  within  the  work,  pervade  its 
whole  surface. 

If  you  are  afraid  of  two  bold  a  speculation,  and 
would  shrink  from  attempting  anything  so  outre 
as  a  blue  picture,  there  are  numerous  other  tones 
which  have  already  ingratiated  themselves  in  our 
affections,  such  as  pearly,  golden,  amber,  silvery, 
&c.,  &c.  Let  us  discuss  in  imagination  the  pro- 
perties of  a  golden  tone. 

It  may  be  well,  that  some  principal  mass  or  ob- 
ject in  this  work  be  orange,  which  may  intensify 
in  yellowy  and  be  surrounded  by  citrons  and  rus- 
sets, before  breaking  away  into  any  of  the  con- 
trasts. The  yellow  may  be  extended  in  lesser 
degrees  over  the  light  part  of  the  picture,  and  be 
allowed  to  culminate  at  some  part  at  the  nearest 
possible  approach  to  white  ;  but  white  in  its  ulti- 
mate purity  should  be  strictly  avoided ;  it  should  be 


COLOUR. 


45 


subordinated  to  yellow  or  golden.  The  following 
colours  cannot  harmonize  with  golden  or  yellow, 
and  should  never  be  admitted,  at  any  rate  in  any 
quantity:  white  and  black,  purple,  blue  and  red. 
The  two  first  are  negative,  the  next  positive  oppo- 
sitions, and  the  last  two  perfect  strangers  to  yel- 
low ;  under  which  circumstances  harmony  must,  I 
have  always  felt,  be  out  of  the  question  when  it 
shall  be  attempted  to  combine  them  in  a  work  of 
the  tone  in  question.  A  pure  blue  sky  would, 
therefore,  be  inadmissible.  The  blue  in  this,  as 
well  as  any  other  object,  should  not  be  broken 
down  with  red,  which  would  produce  an  opposite, 
but  with  yellow  or  orange,  yellow  in  preference. 

The  greatest  amount  of  opposition  admissible  in 
a  picture  of  this  tone  would  be  olive,  graduating 
through  citron-olive,  and  russet-olive ;  of  which 
colours,  varying  between  their  lightest  and  darkest 
extremes,  and  leaning  occasionally  towards  one  or 
the  other  of  their  components — there  may  be  found 
an  infinite  variety,  sufficient  for  all  purposes,  pro- 
vided they  be  kept  pure  and  distinct  at  some  one 
point  of  their  occurrence. 

To  a  person  in  the  habit  of  using  the  more  vio- 
lent and  crude  oppositions,  this  may  appear  to  pre- 
sent a  very  limited  range  of  colours  ;  but  I  must 
impress  upon  your  consideration  whether  harmony, 
discarding  this  liberal  limit,  can  by  any  possibility 
be  obtained  by  opposition  without  subordination. 


46 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


It  cannot,  at  least,  be  obtained  in  any  other  system 
of  things  in  nature  ;  and  as  all  nature  is  in  differ- 
ent degrees  analogous,  colour  cannot  be  expected 
to  insulate  itself  so  completely  from  all  other  nature, 
of  which  it  is  itself  a  component,  so  as  in  every 
particular  to  have  consequences  intrinsically,  and 
exclusively  its  own. 


47 


EXTRACTS  FROM  DISCOURSES  ON  ART. 

BY  SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS. 

When  the  artist  is  once  enabled  to  express 
himself  with  some  degree  of  correctness,  he  must 
then  endeavour  to  collect  subjects  for  expression ; 
to  amass  a  stock  of  ideas,  to  be  combined  and  va- 
ried as  occasion  may  require.  He  is  now  in  the 
second  period  of  study,  in  which  his  business  is  to 
learn  all  that  has  been  known  and  done  before  his 
own  time.  H  u  ing  hitherto  received  instructions 
from  a  particular  master,  he  is  now  to  consider 
Art  as  his  master.  He  must  extend  his  capacity 
to  more  sublime  and  general  instructions.  Those 
perfections  which  lie  scattered  among  various 
masters,  are  now  united  in  one  general  idea,  which 
is  henceforth  to  regulate  his  taste,  and  enlarge  his 
imagination.  With  a  variety  of  models  thus  be- 
fore him,  he  will  avoid  that  narrowness  and  poverty 
of  conception  which  attends  a  bigoted  admiration 
of  a  simple  master,  and  will  cease  to  follow  any 
favourite,  where  he  ceases  to  excel. 

A  student  unacquainted  with  the  attempts  of 
former  adventures,  is  always  apt  to  overrate  his 
own  abilities  ;  to  mistake  the  most  trifling  excur- 
sions for  discoveries  of  moment,  and  every  coast 


48 


EXTRACTS  FROM  DISCOURSES  ON  ART. 


new  to  him,  for  a  new-found  country.  If  by  chance 
he  passes  beyond  his  usual  limits,  he  congratulates 
his  own  arrival  at  those  regions  which  they  who 
have  steered  a  better  course  have  long  left  behind 
them. 

The  productions  of  such  minds  are  seldom  dis- 
tinguished by  an  air  of  originality ;  they  are  anti- 
cipated in  their  happiest  efforts  ;  and  if  they  are 
found  to  differ  in  anything  from  their  predecessors, 
it  is  only  in  irregular  sallies  and  trifling  conceits. 
The  more  extensive,  therefore,  your  acquaintance 
is  with  the  works  of  those  who  have  excelled^  the 
more  extensive  will  be  your  powers  of  invention  ; 
and  what  may  appear  still  more  like  a  paradox, 
the  more  original  will  be  your  conceptions.'' 

COPYING. 

I  CONSIDER,  general  copying  as  a  delusive  kind 
of  industry;  the  student  satisfies  himself  with  the 
appearance  of  doing  something ;  he  falls  into  the 
dangerous  habit  of  imitating  without  selecting, 
and  of  labouring  without  any  determinate  object ; 
as  it  requires  no  effort  of  the  mind,  he  sleeps  over 
his  work ;  and  those  powers  of  invention  and  com- 
position which  ought  particularly  to  be  called  out, 
and  put  in  action,  lie  torpid,  and  lose  their  energy 
for  want  of  exercise. 

How  incapable  those  are  of  producing  any- 
thing of  their  own,  who  have  spent  much  of  their 


COrYlMG. 


49 


lime  in  making  finished  copies,  is  well  known  to 
all  who  are  at  all  conversant  with  art. 

The  great  use  in  copying,  if  it  be  at  all  useful, 
should  seem  to  be  in  learning  to  colour ;  yet  even 
colouring  will  never  be  perfectly  attained  by  ser- 
vilely copying  the  mode  before  you.  An  eye 
critically  nice,  can  only  be  formed  by  observing 
well-coloured  pictures  with  attention  ;  and  by  close 
inspection,  and  minute  examination,  you  will  dis- 
cover, at  last,  the  manner  of  handhng  the  artifices 
of  contrast,  glazing,  and  other  expedients,  by  which 
good  colourists  have  raised  the  value  of  their  tints, 
and  by  which  nature  has  been  so  happily  imitated. 

I  must  inform  you,  however,  that  old  pictures 
deservedly  celebrated  for  their  colouring,  are  often 
so  changed  by  dirt  and  varnish,  that  we  ought  not 
to  wonder  if  they  do  not  appear  equal  to  their  re- 
putation in  the  eyes  of  inexperienced  painters,  or 
young  students.  An  artist,  whose  judgment  is  ma- 
tured by  long  observation,  considers  rather  what 
the  picture  once  was,  than  what  it  is  at  present. 
He  has,  by  habit,  acquired  a  power  of  seeing  the 
brilliancy  of  tints  through  the  cloud  by  which  it  is 
obscured.  An  exact  imitation,  therefore,  of  those 
pictures,  is  likely  to  fill  the  student's  mind  with 
false  opinions,  and  send  him  back  a  colourist  of  his 
own  formation,  with  ideas  equally  remote  from 
nature  and  from  art,  from  the  genuine  practice  of 
the  masters,  and  the  real  appearances  of  thiags. 


50 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


Following  these  rules,  and  using  these  precau- 
tions, when  you  have  clearly  and  distinctly  learned 
in  what  good  colouring  consists,  you  cannot  do 
better  than  have  recourse  to  nature  herself,  who  is 
always  at  hand,  and  in  comparison  of  whose  true 
splendour  the  best  coloured  pictures  are  but  faint 
and  feeble. 

However,  as  the  practice  of  copying  is  not  enr- 
tirely  to  be  excluded,  since  the  mechanical  practice 
of  painting  is  learned  in  some  measure  by  it,  let 
those  choice  parts  only  be  selected,  which  have  re- 
commended the  work  to  notice.  If  its  excellence 
consists  in  its  general  effect,  it  would  be  proper  to 
make  slight  sketches  of  the  machinery  and  general 
management  of  the  picture.  Those  sketches  should 
be  kept  always  by  you  for  the  regulation  of  your 
style.  Instead  of  copying  the  touches  of  those  great 
masters,  copy  only  their  conceptions.  Instead  of 
treading  in  their  footsteps,  endeavour  only  to  keep 
the  same  road.  Labour  to  invent  on  their  general 
principles  and  way  of  thinking.  Possess  yourself 
with  their  spirit.  Consider  with  yourself  how  a 
Michael  Angelo,  or  a  Raffaelle  would  have 
treated  this  subject,  and  work  yourself  into  the  be- 
lief that  your  picture  is  to  be  seen  and  criticised  by 
them  when  completed.  Even  an  attempt  of  this 
kind  will  rouse  your  powers. 

We  all  must  have  experienced  how  lazily,  and 
consequently  how  ineffectually  instruction  is  re- 


STYLE. 


51 


ccived,  when  forced  upon  the  mind  by  others. 
Few  have  been  taught  to  any  purpose,  who  have 
not  been  their  own  teachers.  We  prefer  those  in- 
structions which  we  have  given  ourselves,  from  our 
affection  to  the  instructor ;  and  they  are  more 
effectual,  from  being  received  into  the  mind  at  the 
very  time  when  it  is  most  open  and  eager  to  re- 
ceive them. 

STYLE. 

Style  in  painting,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  art 
more  immediately  necessary  to  the  young  student, 
is  the  same  as  in  writing,  a  power  over  materials, 
whether  words  or  colours,  by  which  conceptions 
or  sentiments  are  conveyed.  In  this  Luidovico 
Caracci  (I  mean  in  his  best  works)  appears  to  me 
to  approach  the  nearest  to  perfection.  His  un- 
affected breadth  of  light  and  shadow,  the  simplicity 
of  colouring,  which,  holding  its  proper  rank,  does 
not  draw  aside  the  least  part  of  the  attention  from 
the  subject,  and  the  solemn  effect  of  that  twilight 
which  seems  diffused  over  his  pictures,  appear  to 
me  to  correspond  to  grave  and  dignified  subjects, 
better  than  the  more  artificial  brilliancy  of  sunshine, 
which  enlightens  the  pictures  of  Titian  ;  though 
TiNTORET  thought  that  Titian's  colouring  was  the 
model  of  perfection,  and  would  correspond  even 
with  the  sublime  of  Michael  Angelo  ;  and  that  if 
Angelo  had  coloured  like  Tjtian,  or  Titian  de- 


52 


THE  THEOl^Y  OF  EFFECT. 


signed  like  Angelo,  the  world  would  once  have 
had  a  perfect  painter. 

In  painting,  as  in  other  arts,  there  are  many 
teachers  who  profess  to  show  the  nearest  way  to 
excellence;  and  many  expedients  have  been  in- 
vented, by  which  the  toil  of  study  might  be  saved. 
But  let  no  man  be  seduced  to  idleness  by  specious 
promises.  Excellence  is  never,  granted  to  man, 
but  as  the  reward  of  labour.  It  argues,  indeed,  no 
small  strength  of  mind  to  persevere  in  habits  of  in- 
dustry, without  the  pleasure  of  perceiving  those 
advances ;  which,  like  the  hand  of  a  clock,  whilst 
they  make  hourly  approaches  to  their  point,  yet 
proceed  so  slowly  as  to  escape  observation.  A 
facility  of  drawing,  like  that  of  playing  upon  a 
musical  instrument,  cannot  be  acquired  but  by  an 
infinite  number  of  acts.  I  need  not,  therefore,  en- 
force by  many  words  the  necessity  of  continual 
application ;  nor  tell  you  that  the  port-crayon  ought 
to  be  forever  in  your  hands.  Various  methods 
will  occur  to  you  by  which  this  power  may  be  ac- 
quired. 

There  is  one  precept^  however,  in  which  I 
shall  only  be  opposed  by  the  vain,  the  ignorant, 
and  the  idle.  I  am  not  afraid  that  I  shall  repeat  it 
too  often.  You  must  have  no  dependence  on  your 
own  genius.  If  you  have  great  talents,  industry 
will  improve  them ;  if  you  have  but  moderate 
abilities,  industry   will   supply  their  deficiency. 


STYLE. 


53 


Nothing  is  denied  to  well-directed  labour;  nothing 
is  to  be  obtained  without  it.  Not  to  enter  into 
metaphysical  discussions  on  the  nature  or  essence 
of  genius,  I  will  venture  to  assert,  that  assiduity, 
unabated  by  difficulty  and  a  disposition  eagerly  di- 
rected to  the  object  of  its  pursuit,  will  produce 
effects  similar  to  those  which  some  call  the  result 
of  natural  powers. 

Though  a  man  cannot  at  all  times,  and  in  all 
places,  paint  or  draw,  yet  the  mind  can  prepare  it- 
self by  laying  in  proper  materials,  at  all  times,  and 
in  all  places.  Both  Livy  and  Plutarch,  in  describ- 
ing Philopoemen,  one  of  the  ablest  generals  of  anti- 
quity, have  given  us  a  striking  picture  of  a  mind 
always  intent  on  its  profession,  and  by  assiduity, 
obtaining  those  excellencies  which  some  all  their 
lives  vainly  expect  from  nature. 

I  cannot  help  imagining,  that  I  see  a  promising 
young  painter,  equally  vigilant,  whether  at  home 
or  abroad,  in  the  streets,  or  in  the  fields.  Every 
object  which  presents  itself,  is  to  him  a  lesson.  He 
regards  all  nature  with  a  view  to  his  profession;  and 
combines  her  beauties,  or  corrects  her  defects.  He 
examines  the  countenance  of  men  under  the  influ- 
ence of  passion ;  and  often  catches  the  most  pleas- 
ing hints  from  subjects  of  turbulence  or  deformity. 
Even  bad  pictures  themselves  supply  him  with  use- 
ful documents  ;  and,  as  Leonarda  de  Vinci  has  ob- 
served, he  improves  upon  the  fanciful  images  that 


54 


THE  THEOKY  OF  EFFECT. 


are  sometimes  seen  in  the  fire,  or  are  acciden- 
tally sketched  upon  a  discoloured  wall. 

The  artist  who  has  his  mind  thus  filled  with 
ideas,  and  his  hand  made  expert  by  practice,  works 
with  ease  and  readiness :  whilst  he  would  have 
you  believe  that  he  is  waiting  for  the  inspirations 
of  geninsj,  he  is  in  reality  at  a  loss  how  to  begin. 


55 


DETAIL  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 

The  detail  of  particulars,  which  does  not  assist 
the  expression  of  the  main  characteristics,  is  worse 
than  useless,  it  is  mischievous,  as  it  dissipates  the 
attention  and  draws  it  from  the  principal  point. 
It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  impression  which  is 
left  on  our  mind,  even  of  things  which  are  familiar 
to  us,  is  seldom  more  than  their  general  effect ;  be- 
yond which  we  do  not  look  in  recognising  such 
objects.  To  express  this  in  painting,  is  to  ex- 
press what  is  congenial  and  natural  to  the  mind  of 
man,  and  what  gives  him  by  reflection  his  own 
mode  of  conceiving.  The  other  pre-supposes 
nicety  and  research,  which  are  only  the  business  of 
the  curious  and  attentive,  and  therefore  does  not 
speak  to  the  general  sense  of  the  whole  species  ; 
in  which  common,  and,  as  I  may  so  call  it,  mother 
tongue,  every  thing  grand  and  comprehensive 
must  be  uttered. 

I  do  not  mean  to  prescribe  what  degree  of  atten- 
tion ought  to  be  paid  to  the  minute  facts  ;  that,  it  is 
hard  to  settle.  We  are  sure  that  it  is  expressing 
the  general  effect  of  the  whole,  which  alone  can 
give  to  objects  their  true  and  touching  character ; 
and  wherever  this  is  observed,  whatever  else  may 
be  neglected,  w-e  acknowledo^e  the  hand  of  a  mns- 


56 


THE  THEORV  OF  EFFECT. 


ter.  We  may  even  go  further,  and  observe,  that 
where  the  general  eflect  only  is  presented  to  us  by 
a  skillful  hand,  it  appears  to  express  the  object  re- 
presented in  a  more  lively  manner,  than  the  minut- 
est resemblance  would  do. 

The  properties  of  all  objects,  as  far  as  a  painter 
is  concerned  with  them,  are,  the  outline  or  draw- 
ing, the  colour,  and  the  light  and  shade.  The 
drawing  gives  the  form,  the  colour  its  visible 
quality,  and  the  light  and  shade  its  solidity. 

Excellence  in  any  one  of  these  parts  of  art  will 
never  be  acquired  by  an  artist,  unless  he  has  the 
habit  of  looking  upon  objects  at  large,  and  observ- 
ing the  effect  which  they  have  on  the  eye  when  it 
is  dilated.  It  is  by  this  that  we  obtain  the  ruling 
characteristic,  and  that  we  learn  to  imitate  it  by 
short  and  dextrous  methods.  I  do  not  mean  by 
dexterity,  a  trick  or  mechanical  habit,  formed  by 
guess,  and  established  by  custom ;  but  that  science, 
which,  by  a  profound  knowledge  of  ends  and  means, 
discovers  the  shortest  and  surest  way  to  its  own 
purpose. 

If  ^e  examine  with  a  critical  view  the  manner 
of  those  painters  whom  we  consider  as  patterns, 
we  shall  find  that  their  great  fame  does  not  pro- 
ceed from  their  works  being  more  highly  finished 
than  those  of  other  artists,  or  from  a  more  minute 
attention  to  details;  but  from  that  enlarged  com- 
prehension which  sees  the  whole  object  at  once, 


DETAIL  AND  3IINTJTE  FINISK. 


and  that  energy  of  art  which  gives  its  character- 
istic effect  by  adequate  expression. 

Raffaelle  and  Titiaiv  are  two  names  which 
stand  the  highest  in  our  art ;  one  for  drawing,  and 
the  other  for  painting.  The  most  considerable  and 
the  most  esteemed  works  of  Raffaelle  are  the 
Cartoons,  and  his  Fresco  works  in  the  Vatican ; 
those,  as  we  all  know,  are  far  from  being  minutely 
finished:  his  principal  care  and  attention  seems  to 
have  been  fixed  upon  the  adjustment  of  the  whole, 
whether  it  was  the  general  composition,  or  the 
composition  of  each  individuaj  figure ;  for  every 
figure  may  be  said  to  be  a  lesser  whole,  though  in 
regard  to  the  general  w^ork  to  which  it  belongs,  it 
is  but  a  part ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  head,  of 
the  hands  and  feet. 

Though  he  possessed  this  art  of  seeing  and  com- 
prehending the  whole,  as  far  as  form  is  concerned, 
lie  did  not  exert  the  same  faculty  in  regard  to  the 
general  effect,  which  is  presented  to  the  eye  by 
colour,  and  light  and  shade.  Of  this,  the  defi- 
ciency of  his  oil  pictures,  where  this  excellence  is 
more  expected  than  in  fresco,  is  a  sufficient  proof. 

It  is  to  Titian  we  must  turn  our  eyes  to  find  ex- 
cellence with  regard  to  colour,  and  light  and  shade, 
in  the  highest  degree.  He  was  both  the  first  and 
the  greatest  master  of  this  art.  By  a  few  strokes 
he  knew  how  to  mark  the  general  image  and  cha- 
racter of  whatever  object  he  attempted ;  and  pro- 


58 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


duced  by  this  a  line,  a  truer  representation  than  his 
Giovanni  Bellino,  or  any  of  his  predecessors,  who 
finished  every  hair.  His  great  care  was  to  express 
the  general  colour,  to  preserve  the  masses  of  light 
and  shade,  and  to  give  by  opposition  the  idea  of 
that  solidity  which  is  inseparable  from  natural  ob- 
jects ;  when  those  are  preserved,  though  the  work 
should  possess  no  other  merit,  it  will  have  in  a 
proper  place  its  complete  effect ;  but  where  any  of 
these  are  wanting,  however  minutely  laboured  the 
picture  may  be  in  the  detail,  the  whole  will  have  a 
false  and  even  an  unfinished  appearance,  at  what- 
ever distance,  or  in  whatever  light  it  can  be  shown. 

It  is  vain  to  attend  to  the  variation  of  tints,  if  in 
that  attention  the  general  hue  of  flesh  is  lost ;  or  to 
finish  even  so  minutely  the  parts,  if  the  masses  are 
not  observed,  or  the  whole  not  well  put  together. 

Raffaelle  and  Titian  seem  to  have  looked  at 
nature  for  different  purposes ;  they  both  had  the 
power  of  extending  their  view  to  the  whole ;  but 
one  looked  only  for  the  general  effect  as  produced 
by  form,  the  other  as  produced  by  colour. 

We  cannot  entirely  refuse  to  Titian  the  merit  of 
attending  to  the  general  form  of  his  object,  as  well 
as  colour ;  but  his  deficiency  lay,  a  deficiency  at 
least  when  he  is  compared  with  Raffaelle,  in  not 
possessing  the  power  like  him,  of  correcting  the 
form  of  his  model  by  any  general  idea  of  beauty  in 
his  own  mind.    Of  this,  his  St.  Sebastian  is  a  par- 


DETAIL  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


59 


ticular  instance.  This  figure  appears  to  be  a  most 
exact  representation  both  of  the  form  and  colour 
of  the  model,  which  he  then  happened  to  have  be- 
fore him  ;  it  has  all  the  force  of  nature,  and  the 
colouring  is  flesh  itself;  but  unluckily,  the  model 
was  of  a  bad  form,  especially  the  legs.  Titian  has 
with  as  much  care  preserved  these  defects,  as  he 
has  imitated  the  beauty  and  brilliancy  of  the 
colouring.  In  his  colouring,  he  was  large  and 
general,  as  in  his  design  he  was  minute  and  par- 
tial :  in  the  one  he  was  a  genius,  in  the  other  not 
much  above  a  copier.  I  do  not,  however,  speak 
now  of  all  his  pictures ;  instances  enough  may  be 
produced  in  his  works,  where  those  observations 
on  his  defects  could  not,  with  any  propriety  be  ap- 
plied; but  it  is  in  the  manner  or  language,  as  it 
may  be  called,  in  which  Titian  and  others  of  that 
school  express  themselves,  that  their  chief  excel- 
lence lies.  This  manner  is  in  reality,  in  painting, 
what  language  is  in  poetry.  We  are  all  sensible 
how  differently  the  imagination  is  effected  by  the 
same  sentiment  expressed  in  difl^erent  words,  and 
how  mean  or  how  grand  the  same  object  appears 
when  presented  to  us  by  different  painters,  whether 
it  is  the  human  figure,  an  animal,  or  even  inani- 
mate objects ;  there  is  nothing,  however  uncompro- 
mising in  appearance,  but  may  be  raised  into 
dignity,  convey  sentiment,  and  produce  emotion  in 
the  hands  of  a  painter  of  genius.  What  was  said  of 


60 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


Virgil,  that  he  threw  even  the  dung  about  the 
ground  with  an  air  of  dignity,  may  be  apphed  to 
Titian:  whatever  be  touched,  however  naturally 
mean,  and  habitually  familiar,  by  a  kind  of  magic 
he  invested  with  grandeur  and  importance. 

I  must  here  observe,  that  I  am  not  recommend- 
ing a  neglect  of  the  detail;  indeed  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  prescribe  certain  bounds, 
and  tell  how  far,  or  when  it  is  to  be  observed  or 
neglected ;  much  must,  at  last,  be  left  to  the  taste 
and  judgment  of  the  artist.  I  am  well  aware  that 
a  judicious  detail  will  sometimes  give  the  force  of 
truth  to  the  work,  and  consequently  interest  the 
spectator.  I  only  wish  to  impress  on  your  minds 
the  true  distinction  between  essential  and  subordi- 
nate powers ;  and  to  show  what  qualities  in  the  art 
claim  your  chief  attention,  and  what  may,  with  the 
least  injury  to  your  reputation  be  neglected.  Some- 
thing, perhaps,  always  must  be  neglected;  the 
lesser  ought  then  to  give  way  to  the  greater ;  and 
since  every  work  can  have  but  a  limited  time 
allotted  to  it,  (for  even  supposing  a  whole  life  to  be 
employed  about  one  picture,  it  is  still  limited,)  it 
appears  more  reasonable  to  employ  that  time  to  the 
best  advantage,  in  contriving  various  methods  of 
composing  the  work, — in  trying  different  effect  of 
light  and  shadow, — and  employing  the  labor  of 
correction  in  heightening  by  a  judicious  adjustment 
of  the  parts,  the  effects  of  the  whole, — than  that 


DETAILS  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


61 


the  time  should  be  taken  up  in  minutely  finishing 
those  parts. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  high  finishing,  which 
may  safely  be  condemned,  as  it  seems  to  counter- 
act its  own  purpose;  that  is,  when  the  artist,  to 
avoid  that  hardness  which  proceeds  from  the  out- 
line cutting  against  the  ground,  softens  and  blends 
the  colours  to  excess :  this  is  what  the  ignorant 
call  high  finishing,  but  which  tends  to  destroy  the 
brilliancy  of  colour,  and  the  true  effect  of  represen- 
tation ;  which  consists  very  much  in  preserving  the 
same  proportion  of  sharpness  and  bluntness  that  is 
found  in  natural  objects.  This  extreme  softening, 
instead  of  producing  the  effect  of  softness,  gives 
the  appearance  of  ivory,  or  some  other  hard  sub- 
stance, highly  polished. 

The  portraits  of  Cornelius  Jansen  appear  to 
have  this  defect,  and  consequently  want  that  sup- 
pleness which  is  the  characteristic  of  flesh;  whereas, 
in  the  works  of  Vandyck,  we  find  that  true  mixture 
of  softness  and  hardness  perfectly  observed.  The 
same  defect  may  be  found  in  the  manner  of  Van- 
DERWERF,  in  opposition  to  that  of  Tenters;  and 
such  also,  we  may  add,  is  the  manner  of  Raffaelle, 
in  his  oil  pictures,  in  comparison  with  that  of 
Titian. 

The  name  which  Raffaelle  has  so  justly  main- 
tained as  the  first  of  painters,  we  may  venture  to 
say  was  not  acquired  by  this  laborious  attention. 
0 


62 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


His  apology  may  be  made  by  saying  that  it  was 
the  manner  of  his  country ;  but  if  he  had  expressed 
his  ideas  with  the  facihty  and  eloquence,  as  it  may 
be  called,  of  Titian,  his  works  would  certainly  not 
have  been  less  excellent;  and  that  praise  which 
ages  and  nations  have  poured  out  upon  him,  for 
possessing  genius  in  the  higher  attainments  of  art, 
would  have  been  extended  to  them  all. 

Those  who  are  not  conversant  in  works  of  art, 
are  often  surprised  at  the  high  value  set  by  connois- 
seurs on  drawings  which  appear  careless,  and  in 
every  respect  unfinished.  But  they  are  truly  valu- 
able; and  their  value  arises  from  this,  that  they  give 
the  idea  of  a  whole,  and  this  whole  is  often  ex- 
pressed by  a  dexterous  facility  which  indicates  the 
the  true  power  of  a  painter,  even  though  roughly 
exerted:  whether  it  consists  in  the  general  compo- 
sition, or  the  general  form  of  each  figure,  or  the 
turn  of  the  attitude  which  bestows  grace  and  ele- 
gance. 

All  this  we  may  see  fully  exemplified  in  the  very 
skilful  drawings  of  Parmegiano  and  Corregio.  On 
whatever  account  we  value  these  drawings,  it  is 
certainly  not  for  high  finishing,  or  a  minute  atten- 
tion to  particulars. 

Excellence  in  every  part,  and  in  every  province 
of  our  art,  from  the  highest  style  of  history,  down 
to  the  resemblance  of  still  life,  will  depend  on  this 


DETAILS  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


63 


power  of  extending  the  attention  at  once  to  the 
whole,  without  which  the  greatest  diHgence  is  vain. 

I  wish  you  to  bear  in  mind,  that  when  I  speak  of 
a  whole,  I  do  not  mean  simply  a  ilhole,  as  be- 
longing to  composition,  but  a  whole  with  respect 
to  the  general  style  of  colouring ;  a  whole  with  re- 
gard to  the  light  and  shade;  a  lohole  of  every 
thing  which  may  separately  become  the  main  object 
of  a  painter. 

I  remember  a  landscape  painter  in  Rome,  who 
was  known  by  the  name  of  Studio,  from  his  patience 
in  high  finishing,  in  which  he  thought  the  whole 
excellence  of  art  consisted;  so  that  he  once  endea- 
vored, as  he  said,  to  represent  every  individual  leaf 
on  a  tree.  This  picture  I  never  saw ;  but  I  am  very 
sure  that  an  artist,  who  looked  only  at  the  general 
character  of  the  species,  the  order  of  the  branches, 
and  the  masses  of  the  foliage,  would,  in  a  few  mi- 
nutes, produce  a  more  true  resemblance  of  trees, 
than  this  painter  in  as  many  months. 

A  landscape  painter  certainly  ought  to  study, 
anatomically,  (if  I  may  use  the  expression,)  all  the 
objects  which  he  paints ;  but  when  he  is  to  turn  his 
studies  to  use,  his  skill,  as  a  man  of  genius,  will  be 
displayed  in  showing  the  general  effect,  preserving 
the  same  degree  of  hardness  and  softness  which  the 
objects  have  in  nature;  for  he  applies  himself  to 
the  imagination,  not  to  the  curiosity,  and  works 
not  for  the  virtuoso,  or  the  naturalist,  but  for  the 


64 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


common  observer  of  life  and  nature.  Where  he 
knows  his  subject,  he  will  know  not  only  what  to 
describe,  but  what  to  omit ;  and  this  skill  in  leaving 
out  is,  in  alk things^  a  great  part  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom. 

The  same  excellence  of  manner  which  Titian 
displayed  in  history  or  portrait  painting,  is  equally 
conspicuous  in  his  landscapes,  whether  they  are 
professedly  such,  or  serve  only  as  back  grounds. 
One  of  the  most  eminent  of  this  latter  kind  is  to  be 
found  in  the  picture  of  St.  Pietro  Martire.  The 
large  trees,  which  are  here  introduced,  are  plainly 
distinguished  from  each  other  by  the  different  man- 
ner with  which  the  branches  shoot  from  their  trunks, 
as  well  as  by  their  different  foliage ;  and  the  weeds 
in  the  foreground  are  varied  in  the  same  manner, 
just  as  much  as  variety  requires,  and  no  more. 
When  Algarotti,  speaking  of  this  picture,  praises  it 
for  the  minute  discrimination  of  the  leaves  and 
plants,  even,  as  he  says,  to  excite  the  admiration  of 
a  botanist,  his  intention  w^as,  undoubtedly,  to  give 
praise,  even  at  the  expense  of  truth ;  for  he  must 
have  known  that  this  is  not  the  character  of  the 
picture.  But  connoisseurs  will  always  find,  in  pic- 
tures, what  they  think  they  ought  to  find :  he  was 
not  aware  that  he  was  giving  a  description  injuri- 
ous to  the  reputation  of  Titian. 

Such  accounts  may  be  very  hurtful  to  young  art- 
ists, who  never  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 


DETAILS  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


65 


the  work  described;  and  they  may  possibly  conclude 
that  this  great  artist  acquired  the  name  of  the  divine 
Titian  from  his  eminent  attention  to  such  trifling 
circumstances,  which,  in  reality,  would  not  raise 
him  above  the  level  of  the  most  ordinary  painter. 

We  may  extend  these  observations  even  to  what 
seems  to  have  but  a  single,  and  that  an  individual 
object,  the  excellence  of  portrait  painting  ;  and,  we 
may  add,  even  the  likeness,  the  character  and  coun- 
tenance, as  I  have  observed  in  another  place,  de- 
pend more  upon  the  general  effect  produced  by  the 
peculiarities,  or  minute  discrimination  of  parts.  The 
chief  attention  of  the  artist  is,  therefore,  employed 
in  planting  the  features  in  their  proper  places,  which 
so  much  contributes  to  giving  the  eflect  and  true 
impression  of  the  whole.  The  very  peculiarities 
may  be  reduced  to  classes  and  general  descriptions; 
and  there  are,  therefore,  large  ideas  to  be  found  even 
in  this  contracted  subject.  He  may  afterwards 
labour  single  features  to  what  degree  he  thinks 
proper,  but  let  him  not  forget,  continually,  to  exa- 
mine, whether  in  finishing  the  parts  he  is  not  de- 
stroying the  general  effect. 

It  is  certainly  a  thing  to  be  wished,  that  all  ex- 
cellence were  applied  to  illustrate  subjects  that  are 
interesting  and  worthy  of  being  commemorated ; 
whereas,  of  half  the  pictures  that  are  in  the  world, 
the  subject  can  be  valued  only  as  an  occasion  which 
set  the  artist  to  work ;  and  yet  our  high  estimation 


66 


THE  THEORiT  OF  EFFECT. 


of  such  pictures,  without  considering,  or  perhaps 
without  knowing  the  subject,  shows  how  much  our 
attention  is  engaged  by  the  art  alone. 

Perhaps  nothing  that  we  can  say  will  so  clearly 
show  the  advantage  and  excellence  of  this  faculty, 
as  that  it  confers  the  character  of  genius  on  works 
that  pretend  to  no  other  merit,  in  which  is  neither 
.expression,  character,  or  dignity,  and  where  none 
are  interested  in  the  subject.  We  cannot  refuse  the 
character  of  genius  to  the  marriage  of  Paoli  Vero- 
nese, without  opposing  the  general  sense  of  man- 
kind, (great  authentics  have  called  it  the  triumph 
of  painting,)  or  to  the  altar  of  St.  Augustine,  at  Ant- 
werp, by  Rubens,  which  equally  deserves  that  title ; 
and  for  the  same  reason,  neither  of  those  pictures 
have  any  interesting  story  to  support  them.  Paoli 
Veronese  is  only  a  representation  of  a  great  con- 
course of  people  at  a  dinner;  and  the  subject  of 
Rubens,  if  it  may  be  called  a  subject  where  nothing 
is  doing,  is  an  assembly  of  various  saints,  that  lived 
in  different  ages.  The  whole  excellence  of  those 
pictures  consists  in  mechanical  dexterity,  working, 
however,  under  the  influence  of  that  comprehensive 
faculty  which  I  have  so  often  mentioned. 

It  is  by  this,  and  this  alone,  that  the  mechanical 
power  is  ennobled,  and  raised  much  above  its  na- 
tural rank.  And  it  appears  to  me,  that  with  pro- 
priety it  acquires  this  character ;  as  an  instance  of 
that  superiority  with  which  mind  predominates  over 


DETAILS  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


67 


matter,  by  contracting  into  one  whole  what  nature 
has  made  multifarious. 

The  great  advantage  of  this  idea  of  a  whole  is, 
that  a  greater  quantity  of  truth  may  be  said  to  be 
contained  and  expressed  in  a  few  lines  or  touches, 
than  in  the  most  laborious  furnishing  of  the  parts 
where  this  is  not  regarded.  It  is  upon  this  founda- 
tion that  it  stands  ;  and  the  justness  of  the  observa- 
tion would  be  confirmed  by  the  ignorant  in  art,  if 
it  were  possible  to  take  their  opinions  unseduced  by 
some  false  notion  of  what  they  imagine  they  ought 
to  see  in  a  picture.  As  it  is  an  art,  they  think  they 
ought  to  be  pleased  in  proportion  as  they  see  that 
art  ostentatiously  displayed;  they  will,  from  this 
supposition,  prefer  neatness,  high  finishing,  and 
gaudy  colouring,  to  the  truth,  simplicity,  and  unity 
of  nature.  Perhaps,  too,  the  totally  ignorant  be- 
holder, like  the  ignorant  artist,  cannot  comprehend 
a  whole,  nor  even  what  it  means.  But  if  false  no- 
tions do  not  anticipate  their  perceptions,  they  who 
are  capable  of  observation,  and  who,  pretending  to 
no  skill,  look  only  straight  forward,  will  praise  and 
condemn  in  proportion  as  the  painter  has  succeeded 
in  the  effect  of  the  whole.  Here  general  satisfac- 
tion, or  general  dislike,  though  perhaps  despised  by 
the  painter,  as  proceeding  from  the  ignorance  of 
the  principles  of  art,  may  yet  help  to  regulate  his 
conduct,  and  bring  back  his  attention  to  that  which 
ought  to  be  his  principal  object,  and  from  which  he 


68 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


has  deviated  for  the  sake  of  minuter  beauties.  An 
instance  of  this  right  judgment  I  once  saw  in  a  child, 
in  going  through  a  gallery  where  there  were  many 
portraits  of  the  last  ages,  which,  though  neatly  put 
out  of  hand,  were  very  ill  put  together.  The  child 
paid  no  attention  to  the  neat  finishing  or  natural- 
ness of  any  bit  of  drapery,  but  appeared  to  observe 
only  the  ungracefulness  of  the  persons  represented, 
and  put  herself  in  the  posture  of  every  figure  which 
she  saw  in  a  forced  and  awkward  attitude.  The 
censure  of  nature,  uninformed,  fastened  upon  the 
greatest  fault  that  could  be  in  a  picture,  because  it 
related  to  the  whole  character  and  management  of 
the  whole. 

I  should  be  sorry,  if  what  has  been  said  should 
be  understood  to  have  any  tendency  to  encourage 
that  carelessness  which  leaves  work  in  an  unfinished 
state.  1  commend  nothing  for  the  want  of  exact- 
ness ;  I  mean  to  point  out  that  kind  of  exactness 
which  is  the  best,  and  which  is  alone  truly  to  be  so 
esteemed. 

So  far  is  my  disquisition  from  giving  counten- 
ance to  idleness,  that  there  is  nothing  in  our  art 
which  enforces  such  continual  exertion  and  circum- 
spection, as  an  attention  to  the  general  effect  of  the 
whole.  It  requires  much  study  and  much  practice ; 
it  requires  the  painter's  entire  mind ;  whereas  the 
parts  may  be  finishing  by  nice  touches,  while  his 
mind  is  engaged  on  other  matters;  he  may  even 


DETAILS  AND  MINUTE  FINISH. 


69 


hear  a  play  or  novel  read  without  much  disturbance. 
The  artist  who  flatters  his  own  indolence,  will  con- 
tinually find  himself  evading  this  active  exertion, 
and  applying  his  thoughts  to  the  care  and  laziness 
of  highly  finishing  the  parts ;  producing,  at  last, 
what  Cowley  calls  "  laborious  effects  of  idleness." 

No  work  can  be  too  much  finished,  provided  the 
diligence  employed  be  directed  to  its  proper  object; 
but  I  have  observed  that  an  excessive  labour  in  the 
detail  has,  nine  times  in  ten,  been  pernicious  to  the 
general  effect,  even  when  it  has  been  the  labour  of 
great  masters.  It  indicates  a  bad  choice,  which  is 
an  ill  setting  out  in  any  undertaking. 

To  give  a  right  direction  to  your  industry  has 
been  my  principal  purpose.  It  is  this  which,  I  am 
confident,  often  makes  the  difference  between  two 
students  of  equal  capacities,  and  of  equal  industry. 
While  the  one  is  employing  his  labour  on  minute 
objects  of  little  consequence,  the  other  is  acquiring 
the  art,  and  perfecting  the  habit,  of  seeing  nature  in 
an  extensive  view,  in  its  proper  proportions,  and  its 
due  subordination  of  parts. 

The  same  extension  of  mind  which  gives  the  ex- 
cellence of  genius  to  the  theory  and  mechanical 
practice  of  the  art,  will  direct  him  likewise  in  the 
method  of  study,  and  give  him  the  superiority  over 
those  who  narrowly  follow  a  more  confined  track 
of  partial  imitation. 

Whoever,  in  order  to  finish  his  education,  should 


0 


70 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


travel  in  Italy,  and  spend  his  whole  time  there  only 
in  copying  pictures,  and  measuring  statues  or  build- 
ings, (though  these  things  are  not  to  be  neglected,) 
would  return  with  httle  improvement.  He  that  imi- 
tates the  Iliad,  says  Dr.  Young,  is  not  imitating 
Homer.  It  is  not  by  laying  up  in  the  memory  the 
particular  details  of  any  of  the  great  works  of  art, 
that  a  man  becomes  a  great  artist;  if  he  stops 
without  making  himself  master  of  the  general  prin- 
ciples on  which  these  works  are  conducted.  If  he 
even  hopes  to  rival  those  whom  he  admires,  he 
must  consider,  their  works  as  the  means  of  teaching 
him  the  true  art  of  seeing  nature.  When  this  is  ac- 
quired, he  then  may  be  said  to  have  appropriated 
their  powers,  or  at  least  the  foundation  of  their 
powers,  to  himself;  the  rest  must  depend  on  his 
own  industry  and  application.  The  great  business 
of  study  is,  to  form  a  mind,  adapted  and  adequate 
to  all  times  and  all  occasions ;  to  which  all  nature 
is  there  laid  open,  and  which  may  be  said  to  possess 
the  key  of  her  inexhaustible  riches. 


71 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 

The  observations  to  which  I  formerly  wished, 
and  now  desire  to  point  your  attention,  relate  not 
to  errors  which  are  committed  by  those  who  have 
no  claim  to  merit,  but  to  those  inadvertencies  into 
which  men  of  parts  only  can  fall,  by  the  over-rating, 
or  the  abuse  of  some  real,  though  subordinate,  ex- 
cellence. The  errors  last  alluded  to  are  those  of 
backward,  timid  characters;  what  I  shall  now  speak 
of  belong  to  another  class — to  those  artists  who  are 
distinguished  for  the  readiness  and  facility  of  their 
invention.  It  is  undoubtedly  a  splendid  and  desir- 
able accomplishment  to  be  able  to  design,  instanta- 
neously, any  given  subject.  It  is  an  excellence  that 
I  believe  every  artist  would  wish  to  possess ;  but, 
unluckily,  the  manner  in  which  this  dexterity  is  ac- 
quired, habituates  the  mind  to  be  contented  with  first 
thoughts,  without  choice  or  selection.  The  judg- 
ment, after  it  has  been  long  passive,  by  degrees 
loses  its  power  of  becoming  active,  when  exertion 
is  necessary. 

Whoever,  therefore,  has  this  talent,  must,  in  some 
measure,  undo  what  he  has  had  the  habit  of  doing, 
or,  at  least,  give  a  new  turn  to  his  mind  :  great 
works,  which  are  to  live  and  stand  the  criticism  of 
posterity,  are  not  performed  at  a  heat ;  a  propor- 


72 


THE  THEOKY  OF  EFFECT. 


tionable  lime  is  required  for  deliberation  and  cir- 
cumspection. I  remember  when  I  was  at  Rome, 
looking  at  the  Fighting  Gladiator,  in  company  with 
an  eminent  sculptor,  and  I  expressed  my  admiration 
of  the  skill  with  which  the  whole  is  composed,  and 
the  minute  attention  of  the  artist  to  the  change  of 
every  muscle  in  that  momentary  exertion  of 
strength.  He  was  of  opinion  that  a  work  so  per- 
fect required  nearly  the  whole  Hfe  of  man  to  per- 
form. 

I  believe,  if  we  look  around  us,  we  shall  find  that, 
in  the  sister  art  of  poetry,  whaf  has  been  soon  done 
has  been  as  soon  forgotten.  The  judgment  and  prac- 
tice of  a  great  poet,  on  this  occasion,  is  worthy  at- 
tention. Metastasia,  who  has  so  much  and  justly 
distinguished  himself  throughout  Europe,  at  his 
outset  was  an  Impromsatore,  or  extempore  poet, — 
a  description  of  men  not  uncommon  in  Italy.  It  is 
not  long  since  he  was  asked  by  a  friend,  if  he  did 
not  think  the  custom  of  inventing  and  reciting  ex- 
tempore^ which  he  practised  when  a  boy,  in  his  cha- 
racter of  an  Improvisatore,  might  not  be  considered 
as  a  happy  beginning  of  his  education ;  he  thought 
it,  on  the  contrary,  a  disadvantage  to  him.  He  said 
that,  he  had  acquired  by  that  habit  a  carelessness 
and  incorrectness,  which  it  cost  him  much  trouble 
to  overcome,  and  to  substitute  in  the  place  of  it  a 
totally  different  habit,  that  of  thinking  with  selec- 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


73 


tion,  and  of  expressing  himseif  with  correctness  and 
precision. 

However  extraordinary  it  may  appear,  it  is  cer- 
tainly true,  that  the  inventions  of  the  Pittori  impj^o- 
visatore,  as  they  may  be  called,  have,  notwith- 
standing the  common  boast  of  their  authors,  that  all 
is  spun  from  their  own  brain,  very  rarely  anything 
that  has  in  the  least  the  air  of  originality:  their 
compositions  are  generally  common-place,  uninter- 
esting, without  character  or  expression;  like  those 
flowery  speeches  that  we  sometimes  hear,  which 
impress  no  new  ideas  on  the  mind. 

I  would  not  be  thought,  however,  by  what  has 
been  said,  to  oppose  the  use,  the  advantage,  the  ne- 
cessity there  is,  of  a  painter's  being  readily  able  to 
express  his  ideas  by  sketching.  The  further  he  can 
carry  such  designs,  the  better.  The  evil  to  be  ap- 
prehended is  his  resting  there,  and  not  correcting 
them  afterwards  from  nature,  or  taking  the  trouble 
to  look  about  him  for  whatever  assistance  the 
works  of  others  will  afford  him. 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  that  when  a  painter  sits 
down  to  deliberate  on  any  work,  he  has  all  his 
knowledge  to  seek ;  he  must  not  only  be  able  to 
draw,  extempore^  the  human  figure,  in  every  variety 
of  action,  but  he  must  be  acquainted,  likewise, 
with  the  general  principles  of  composition,  and  pos- 
sess a  habit  of  foreseeing,  while  he  is  composing, 
the  effect  of  the  masses  of  light  and  shadow  that 


74 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


will  attend  such  a  disposition.  His  mind  is  entirely 
occupied  by  his  attention  to  the  -whole.  It  is  a  sub- 
sequent consideration  to  determine  the  attitude  and 
expression  of  individual  figures.  It  is  in  this  period 
of  his  work  that  I  would  recommend  to  every  artist 
to  look  over  his  port-folio,  or  pocket-book,  in  which 
he  has  treasured  up  all  the  happy  inventions,  all  the 
extraordinary  and  expressive  attitudes  that  he  has 
met  with  in  the  course  of  his  studies ;  not  only  for 
the  sake  of  borrowing  from  those  studies  whatever 
may  be  appHcable  to  his  own  work,  but  likewise  on 
account  of  the  great  advantage  he  will  receive  by 
bringing  the  ideas  of  great  artists  more  distinctly 
before  his  mind,  which  will  teach  him  to  invent 
other  figures  in  a  similar  style. 

I  know  there  are  many  artists  of  great  fame,  who 
appear  never  to  have  looked  out  of  themjsqlves, 
and  who,  probably,  would  think  it  derogatory  to 
their  character  to  be  supposed  to  borrow  from  any 
other  painter.  But  when  we  recollect,  and  com- 
pare the  works  of  such  men  with  those  who  took  to 
their  assistance  the  inventions  of  others,  we  shall 
be  convinced  of  the  great  advantage  of  this  latter 
practice. 

The  two  men  mo^t  eminent  for  readiness  of  in- 
vention, that  occur  to  me,  are  Luca  Gurdano  and 
La  Fage  ;  one  in  painting,  and  the  other  in  drawing. 

To  such  extraordinary  powers  as  were  possessed 
by  both  of  those  artists,  we  cannot  refuse  the  cha- 


I^'VENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


75 


racter  of  genius;  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, that  it  was  that  kind  of  mechanic  ge- 
nius which  operates  without  much  assistance  of  the 
head.  In  all  their  works,  which  are  (as  might  be 
expected)  very  numerous,  we  may  look  in  vain  for 
anything  that  can  be  said  to  be  original  and  striking; 
and  yet,  according  to  the  ordinary  ideas  of  origi- 
nality, they  have  as  good  pretensions  as  most  paint- 
ers ;  for  they  borrowed  very  little  from  others,  and 
still  less  will  any  artist,  that  can  distinguish  be- 
tween excellence  and  insipidity,  ever  borrow  from 
them. 

To  those  men,  and  all  such,  let  us  oppose  the 
practice  of  the  first  of  painters.  I  suppose  we 
shall  all  agree  that  no  man  ever  possessed  a  greater 
power  of  invention,  and  stood  less  in  need  of  for- 
eign assistance,  than  Raffaelle;  and  yet,  when  he 
was  designing  one  of  his  greatest,  as  well  as  latest 
works,  the  Cartoons,  it  is  very  apparent  that  he  had 
the  studies  which  he  had  made  from  Masaccio  be- 
fore him.  Two  noble  figures  of  St.  Paul,  which 
he  found  there,  he  adopted  in  his  own  work;  one  of 
them  he  took  for  St.  Paul  preaching  at  Athens, 
and  the  other  for  the  same  saint,  when  chastising 
the  socerer  Elymas.  Another  figure  in  the  same 
work,  whose  head  is  sunk  in  his  breast,  with  his 
eyes  shut,  appearing  deeply  wrapt  up  in  thought, 
was  introduced  amongst  the  listeners  to  the  preach- 
ing of  St.  Paul    The  most  material  alteration  that 


7a 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


is  made  in  those  two  figures  of  St.  Paul,  is  the  ad- 
dition of  the  left  hands,  which  are  seen  in  the  origi- 
nal. It  is  a  rule  that  Raffaelle  observed,  (and  in- 
deed ought  never  to  be  dispensed  with,)  in  a  princi- 
pal figure,  to  show  both  hands  ;  that  it  should  never 
be  a  question  what  is  become  of  the  other  hand. 
For  the  sacrifice  at  Lystra,  he  took  the  whole  cere- 
mony, much  as  it  stands,  in  an  ancient  basso-relievo, 
and  published  in  the  Admiranda. 

I  have  given  examples  from  those  pictures  only 
of  Raffaelle  which  we  have  among  us,  though 
many  other  instances  might  be  produced  of  this 
great  painter's  not  disdaining  assistance :  indeed,  his 
known  wealth  was  so  great,  that  he  might  borrow 
where  he  pleased  without  loss  of  credit. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  this  work  of  Masaccio, 
from  which  he  has  borrowed  so  freely,  was  a  public 
work,  and  at  no  farther  distance  from  Rome  than 
Florence;  so  that,  if  he  had  considered  it  a  dis- 
graceful theft,  he  was  sure  to  be  detected  ;  but  he 
was  well  satisfied  that  his  character  for  invention 
would  be  little  affected  by  such  a  discovery ;  nor 
is  it,  except  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  are  igno- 
rant of  the  manner  in  which  great  works  are  built. 

Those  who  steal  from  mere  poverty  ;  w^ho  have 
nothing  of  their  own,  cannot  exist  a  minute  without 
making  such  depredations;  who  are  so  poor  that  they 
have  no  place  in  which  they  can  even  deposit  what 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


77 


they  have  taken  ;  to  men  of  this  description  nothing 
can  be  said. 

Raffaelle,  as  appears  from  what  has  been  said, 
had  carefully  studied  the  v^orks  of  Masaccio;  and, 
indeed,  there  was  no  other,  if  we  except  Michael 
Angelo,  (whom  he  likewise  imitated,)  so  worthy  of 
his  attention;  and,  though  his  manner  was  dry  and 
hard,  his  compositions  formal,  and  not  enough  diver- 
sified, according  to  the  custom  of  painters  in  that 
early  period,  yet  his  works  possess  that  grandeur 
and  simplicity  which  accompany,  and  even  some- 
times proceed  from,  regularity  and  harshness  of 
manner.  We  must  consider  the  barbarous  state 
of  the  arts  before  his  time,  when  skill  in  drawing 
was  so  little  understood,  that  the  best  of  the  paint- 
ers could  not  even  foreshorten  the  foot,  but  every 
figure  appeared  to  stand  upon  his  toes ;  and  what 
served  for  drapery,  had,  from  the  hardness  and 
smallness  of  the  folds,  too  much  the  appearance  of 
cords  clinging  round  the  body.  He  first  introduced 
large  drapery,  flowing  in  an  easy  and  natural  man- 
ner ;  indeed,  he  appears  to  be  the  first  who  discov- 
ered the  path  that  leads  to  every  excellence  to 
which  the  art  afterwards  arrived,  and  may,  there< 
fore,  be  justly  considered  as  one  of  the  great  fathers 
of  modern  art. 

Though  I  have  been  led  on  to  a  longer  digres- 
sion respecting  this  great  painter,  than  I  intended, 
vet  T  cnnnot  avoid  mentioning  another  excellence 


78 


THE  THEOKIT  OF  EFFECT. 


which  he  possessed  in  a  very  eminent  degree ;  he 
was  as  much  distinguished  among  his  contempora- 
ries for  diHgence  and  industry,  as  he  was  for  the 
natural  faculties  of  his  mind.  We  are  told  that  his 
whole  attention  w^as  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  his 
art,  and  that  he  acquired  the  name  of  Masaccio, 
from  his  total  disregard  to  his  dress,  his  person,  and 
all  the  common  concerns  of  life.  He  is  indeed  a 
signal  instance  of  what  well  directed  diligence  will 
do  in  a  short  time;  he  lived  but  twenty-seven  years, 
yet,  in  that  short  space,  carried  the  art  so  far  be- 
yond what  it  had  before  reached,  that  he  appears  to 
stand  alone  as  a  model  for  his  successors.  Vassari 
gives  a  long  catalogue  of  painters  and  sculptors, 
who  formed  their  taste,  and  learned  their  art,  by 
studying  his  works ;  among  those  he  names  Michael 
Angelo,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Pietro  Perugino,  Raf- 
faelle,  Bartolomeo,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  II  Rosso,  and 
Piereno  del  Vaga. 

The  habit  of  contemplating  and  brooding  over 
the  ideas  of  great  geniuses,  till  you  find  yourself 
w^armed  by  the  contact,  is  the  true  method  of  form- 
ing an  artist-like  mind  ;  it  is  impossible,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  those  great  men,  to  think  or  invent  in  a 
mean  manner;  a  state  of  mind  is  acquired  that  re- 
ceives those  ideas  only  which  relish  of  grandeur 
and  simplicity. 

Besides  the  general  advantage  of  forming  the 
taste  by  such  an  intercourse,  there  is  another  of  *a 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


79 


particular  kind,  which  was  suggested  to  me  by  the 
practice  of  Raffaelle,  when  imitating  the  work  of 
which  I  have  been  speaking.  The  figure  of  the 
proconsul,  Sergius  Paulus,  is  taken  from  the  Felix 
of  Masaccio,  though  one  is  a  front  figure,  and  the 
other  seen  in  profile ;  the  actioi:!  is  likewise  some- 
what changed,  but  it  is  plain  Rafl^aelle  had  that  figure 
in  his  mind.  There  is  a  circumstance,  indeed, 
which  I  mention  by  the  by,  which  marks  it  very 
particularly — Sergius  Paulus  wears  a  crown  of  lau- 
rel ;  this  is  hardly  reconcilable  to  strict  propriety, 
and  the  costume,  of  which  Raffaelle  was  in  general 
a  good  observer ;  but  he  found  it  so  in  Masaccio, 
and  he  did  not  bestow  so  much  pains  in  disguise  as 
to  change  it.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  an  excellent 
practice,  thus  to  suppose  the  figures  which  you  wish 
to  adopt  in  the  works  of  those  great  painters  to  be 
statu|es,  and  to  give,  as  Raffaelle  has  here  given, 
another  view,  taking  care  to  preserve  all  the  spirit 
and  grace  you  find  in  tho  original. 

I  should  hope,  from  what  has  been  lately  said, 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  guard  myself  against  any 
supposition  of  recommending  an  entire  dependence 
upon  former  masters ;  I  do  not  desire  that  you  should 
get  other  people  to  do  your  business,  or  to  think  for 
you ;  I  only  w^ish  you  to  consult  with,  to  call  in,  as 
counsellors,  men  the  most  distinguished  for  their 
knowledge  and  experience,  the  result  of  which 
counsel  must  ultimately  depend  on  yourself  Such 


80 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


conduct,  in  the  commerce  of  life,  has  never  been 
considered  as  disgraceful,  or  in  any  respect  to  im- 
ply intellectual  imbecility ;  it  is  a  sign,  rather,  of 
the  true  wisdom,  which  feels  individual  imperfec- 
tion, and  is  conscious  to  itself  how  much  collective 
observation  is  necessary  to  fill  the  immense  extent, 
and  to  comprehend  the  infinite  variety  of  nature.  I 
recommend  neither  self-dependence,  nor  plagiarism. 
I  advise  you  only  to  take  that  assistance  which 
every  human  being  wants,  and  which,  as  appears 
from  the  examples  that  have  been  given,  the  great- 
est painters  have  not  disdained  to  accept.  Let  me 
add,  that  the  diligence  required  in  the  search,  and 
the  exertion  subsequent  in  accommodating  those 
ideas  to  your  own  purpose,  is  a  business  which  idle- 
ness will  not,  and  ignorance  cannot  perform.  But 
in  order  more  distinctly  to  explain  what  kind  of  bor- 
rowing I  mean,  when  I  recommend  so  anxiously  the 
study  of  the  works  of  great  masters,  let  us  for  a 
minute  return  again  to  Raffaelle,  consider  his 
method  of  practice,  and  endeavour  to  imitate  him, 
in  his  manner  of  imitating  others. 

The  two  figures  of  St.  Paul,  which  I  lately  men- 
tioned, are  so  nobly  conceived  by  Masaccio,  that 
perhaps  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  Raffaelle  himself 
to  raise  and  improve  them,  nor  has  he  attempted  it; 
but  he  has  had  the  address  to  change,  in  some  mea- 
sure, without  diminishing  the  grandeur  of  their 
character;  he  has  substituted,  in  the  place  of  a  se- 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


81 


rene  composed  dignity,  that  animated  expression 
which  was  necessary  to  the  more  active  employ- 
ment he  has  assigned  them. 

In  the  same  manner  he  has  given  more  anima- 
tion to  the  figure  of  Sergius  Paulus,  and  to  that 
which  is  introduced  in  the  picture  of  St.  Paul 
preaching,  of  which  httle  more  than  hints  are  given 
by  Masaccio,  which  Raffaelle  has  finished.  The 
closing  the  eyes  of  this  figure,  which  in  Masaccio 
might  be  easily  mistaken  for  sleeping,  is  not  in  the 
least  ambiguous  in  the  cartoon ;  his  eyes,  indeed, 
are  closed,  but  they  are  closed  with  such  vehe- 
mence, that  the  agitation  of  a  mind,  peiylexed  in  the 
extreme,  is  seen  at  the  first  glance ;  but  what  is 
most  extraordinary,  and  I  think  particularly  to  be 
admired,  is,  that  the  same  idea  is  continued  through 
the  whole  figure,  even  to  the  drapery,  which  is  so 
closely  muffled  about  him,  that  even  his  hands  are 
not  seen :  by  this  happy  correspondence  between 
the  expression  of  the  countenance,  and  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  parts,  the  figure  appears  to  think,  from 
head  to  foot.  Men  of  superior  talents  alone  are  ca- 
pable of  thus  using  and  adapting  other  men's  minds 
to  their  own  purposes,  or  are  able  to  make  out  and 
finish  what  was  only  in  the  original  a  hint  or  im- 
perfect conception.  A  readiness  in  taking  such 
hints,  which  escape  the  dull  and  ignorant,  makes, 
in  my  opinion,  no  inconsiderable  part  of  that  faculty 
of  the  mind  which  is  called  genius. 


82 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


It  often  happens  that  hints  may  be  taken  and 
employed  in  a  situation  totally  different  from  that 
in  which  they  were  originally  employed.  There  is 
a  figure  of  a  Bacchante  leaning  backward,  her 
head  thrown  quite  behind  her,  which  seems  to  be  a 
favourite  invention,  as  it  is  so  frequently  repeated 
in  basso-relievos,  cameos,  and  intaglios;  it  is  in- 
tended to  express  an  enthusiastic  frantic  kind  of  joy. 
This  figure  Baccio  Bandenellt,  in  a  drawing  that  I 
have  of  that  master,  of  the  Descent  from  the  Cross, 
has  adopted,  (and  he  knew  very  well  what  was 
worth  borrowing,)  for  one  of  the  Mary's  to  express 
frantic  agony  of  grief  It  is  curious  to  observe,  and 
it  is  certainly  true,  that  the  extremes  of  contrary 
passions  are,  with  very  little  variation,  expressed 
by  the  same  action. 

If  I  were  to  recommend  method  in  any  part  of 
the  study  of  a  painter,  it  would  be  in  regard  to  in- 
vention ;  that  young  students  should  not  presume  to 
think  themselves  qualified  to  invent,  till  they  are 
acquainted  with  those  stores  of  invention  the  world 
already  possesses,  and  had  by  that  means  accumu- 
lated sufficient  materials  for  the  mind  to  work  with. 
It  would  certainly  be  no  improper  method  of  form- 
ing the  mind  of  a  young  artist,  to  begin  with  such 
exercises  as  the  Itahans  call  a  pasticcio  composition 
of  the  different  excellencies  which  are  dispersed 
in  all  other  works  of  the  same  kind.  It  is  not  sup- 
posed that  he  is  to  stop  here,  but  that  he  is  to  ac- 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


83 


quire  by  this  means  the  art  of  selecting,  first,  what 
is  truly  excellent  in  art,  and  then  what  is  still  more 
excellent  in  nature;  a  task  which,  without  this  pre- 
vious study,  he  will  be  but  ill  qualified  to  perform. 

The  doctrine  which  is  here  advanced,  is  acknow- 
ledged to  be  new,  and  to  many  may  appear  strange. 
But  I  only  demand  for  it  the  reception  of  a  stran- 
ger; a  favourable  and  attentive  consideration,  with- 
out that  entire  confidence  which  might  be  claimed 
under  authoritative  recommendation. 

After  you  have  taken  a  figure,  or  any  idea  of  a 
figure,  from  any  of  those  great  painters,  there  is 
another  operation  still  remaining,  which  I  hold  to  be 
indispensibly  necessary  ;  that  is,  never  to  neglect  fin- 
ishing from  nature  every  part  of  the  work.  What  is 
taken  from  a  model,  though  the  first  idea  m^y  have 
been  suggested  by  another,  you  have  a  just  right  to 
consider  as  your  own  property.  And  here  I  can- 
not avoid  mentioning  a  circumstance  in  placing  the 
model,  though  to  some  it  may  appear  trifling.  It 
is  better  to  possess  the  model,  with  the  attitude  you 
require,  than  to  place  him  with  your  own  hands : 
by  this  means  it  happens  often  that  the  model  puts 
himself  in  an  action  superior  to  your  own  imagina- 
tion. It  is  a  great  matter  to  be  in  the  way  of  acci- 
dent, and  to  be  watchful  and  ready  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it ;  besides,  when  you  fix  the  position  of  a 
model,  there  is  danger  in  putting  him  in  an  attitude 
into  ,which  no  man  would  naturally  fall.    This  ex- 


84 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


tends  even  to  drapery.  We  must  be  cautious  in 
touching  and  altering  a  fold  of  the  stuff  which 
serves  as  a  model,  for  fear  of  giving  it,  inadver- 
tently, a  forced  form ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  better  to 
take  the  chance  of  another  casual  throw,  than  to 
alter  the  position  in  which  it  was  at  first  acciden- 
tally cast. 

Rembrandt,  in  order  to  take  the  advantage  of  ac- 
cident, appears  often  to  have  used  the  pallet-knife 
to  lay  his  colours  on  the  canvass,  instead  of  the 
pencil.  Whether  it  is  the  knife,  or  any  other  in- 
strument, it  suffices,  if  it  is  something  that  does  not 
follow  exactly  the  will.  Accident,  in  the  hands  of 
an  artist  who  knows  how  to  take  the  advantage  of 
its  hints,  will  often  produce  bold  and  capricious 
beauties  of  handling  and  facility,  such  as  he  would 
not  have  thought  of,  or  ventured,  with  his  pencil, 
under  the  regular  restraint  of  his  hand.  However, 
this  is  fit  only  in  occasions  where  no  correctness  of 
form  is  required,  such  as  clouds,  stumps  of  trees, 
rocks,  or  broken  ground.  Works  produced  in  an 
accidental  manner  will  have  the  same  free  unre- 
strained air  as  the  works  of  nature,  whose  parti- 
cular combinations  seem  to  depend  upon  accident. 

I  again  repeat,  you  are  never  to  lose  sight  of  na- 
ture ;  the  instant  you  do,  you  are  all  abroad,  at  the 
mercy  of  every  gust  of  fashion,  without  knowing 
or  seeing  the  point  to  which  you  ought  to  steer. 
Whatever  trips  you  make,  you  must  still  have  na- 


INVENTION  AND  DESIGN. 


85 


ture  in  your  eye.  Let  me  recommend  to  you  not  to 
have  too  great  dependence  on  your  practice  or 
memory,  however  strong  those  impressions  may 
have  been  which  are  there  deposited.  These  are 
for  ever  wearing  out,  and  will  be  at  last  oblite- 
rated, unless  they  are  continually  refreshed  and  re- 
paired. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  artists  who, 
from  a  long  neglect  of  cultivating  this  necessary 
intimacy  with  nature,  do  not  even  know  her  when 
they  see  her;  she  appearing  a  stranger  to  them, 
from  their  being  so  long  habituated  to  their  own 
representation  of  her.  I  have  heard  painters  ac- 
knowledge, though  in  that  acknowledgment  no  de- 
gradation of  themselves  was  intended,  that  they 
could  do  better  without  nature  than  with  her ;  or,  as 
they  expressed  it  themselves,  that  it  only  put  them 
out,  A  painter,  with  such  ideas  and  such  habits,  is 
indeed,  in  a  most  helpless  state.  The  art  of  seeing 
nature^  or,  in  other  words,  the  art  of  using  models, 
is,  in  reality,  the  great  object,  the  point  to  which  all 
our  studies  are  directed.  As  for  the  power  of  being 
able  to  do  tolerably  w^ell,  from  practice  alone,  let 
it  be  valued  according  to  its  worth.  But  I  do  not 
see  in  what  manner  it  can  be  sufficient  for  the  pro- 
duction of  correct,  excellent,  and  finished  pictures. 
Works  deserving  this  character  never  were  pro- 
duced," nor  ever  will  arise,  from  memory  alone; 
and  1  will  venture  to  say,  that  an  artist  who  brings 
8 


S6  THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 

to  his  work  a  mind  tolerably  furnished  with  the 
general  principles  of  art,  and  a  taste  formed  upon 
the  works  of  good  artists,  in  short  who  knows  in 
what  excellence  consists,  will,  with  the  assistance 
of  models,  which  we  will  likewise  suppose  he  has 
learnt  the  art  of  using,  be  an  overmatch  for  the 
greatest  painter  that  ever  lived,  who  should  be  de- 
barred such  advantages. 


87 


ANATOMICAL  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HU- 
MAN  FIGURE. 

Du  Piles  has,  in  his  note  in  this  passage,  given 
the  measures  of  a  human  body,  as  taken  by  Fres- 
noy  from  the  statues  of  the  ancients,  which  are 
here  transcribed : — 

"  The  ancients  have  commonly  allowed  eight 
heads  to  their  figures,  though  some  of  them  have 
but  seven ;  but  we  ordinarily  divide  the  figures 
into  ten  faces,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  crown  of  the 
head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  in  the  following  man- 
ner : — 

"  From  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  forehead  is 
the  third  part  of  a  face.  The  face  begins  at  the 
root  of  the  lowest  hairs  which  are  upon  the  fore- 
head, and  ends  at  the  bottom  of  the  chin.  The  face 
is  divided  into  three  proportionable  parts ;  the  first 
contains  the  forehead,  the  second  the  nose,  and  the 
third  the  mouth  and  the  chin ;  from  the  chin,  to  the 
pit  betwixt  the  collar-bones,  are  two  lengths  of  a 
nose. 

From  the  pit,  betwixt  the  collar-bones,  to  the 
bottom  of  the  breast,  one  face.  From  the  bottom 
of  the  breast  to  the  navel,  one  face. 

"  From  the  navel  to  the  genitories,  one  face. 


88 


TflE  TflEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


"  From  the  genitories  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
knee,  two  faces. 

"  The  knee  contains  half  a  face. 

"  From  the  lower  part  of  the  knee  to  the  ankle, 
two  faces. 

"  From  the  ankle  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  half  a 
face. 

"  A  man,  when  his  arms  are  stretched  out,  is, 
from  the  longest  finger  of  his  right  hand,  to  the 
longest  of  his  left,  as  broad  as  he  is  long. 

"  From  one  side  of  the  breasts  to  the  other,  two 
faces. 

"  The  bone  of  the  arm  called  humerus,  is  the 
length  of  two  faces  from  the  shoulder  to  the  elbow. 

"  From  the  end  of  the  elbow  to  the  root  of  the 
little  finger,  the  bone  called  cubitus,  with  part  of 
the  hand,  contains  two  faces. 

"  From  the  bix  of  the  shoulder-blade  to  the  pit  be- 
twixt the  collar  bones,  one  face. 

"  If  you  would  be  satisfied  in  the  measure  of 
breadth,  from  the  extremity  of  one  finger  to  the  other, 
so  that  this  breadth  should  be  equal  to  the  length  of 
the  body,  you  must  observe,  that  the  bixes  of  the 
elbows,  with  the  humerus,  and  of  the  humerus  with 
the  shoulder-blade,  bear  the  proportion  of  half  a  face, 
when  the  arms  are  stretched  out. 

"  The  sole  of  the  foot  is  the  sixth  part  of  the 
figure. 

"  The  hand  is  the  length  of  a  face. 


PERSPECTIVE. 


89 


"  The  thumb  contains  a  nose. 
The  inside  of  the  arm,  from  the  place  the  mus- 
cle disappears,  which  makes  the  breast,  (called  the 
pectoral  muscle,)  to  the  middle  of  the  arm,  four 
noses. 

From  the  middle  of  the  arm  to  the  beginning 
of  the  head,  five  noses. 

"  The  longest  toe  is  a  nose  long. 

"  The  tw^o  utmost  parts  of  the  teats;  and  the  pit 
betwixt  the  collar-bones  of  a  woman,  make  an  aequi- 
lateral  triangle. 

For  the  breadth  of  the  limbs  no  precise  mea- 
sure can  be  given,  because  the  measures  themselv^es 
are  changeable,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  per- 
sons, and  according  to  the  movement  of  the  mus- 
cles." 

PERSPECTIVE. 

Fresnoy  was  not  aware  that  he  was  arguing 
from  the  abuse  of  the  art  of  perspective,  the  business 
of  which  is  to  represent  objects  as  they  appeared 
to  the  eye,  or  as  they  are  delineated  on  a  transpa- 
rent plane  placed  between  the  spectator  and  the  ob- 
ject. 

The  rules  of  perspective,  as  well  as  all  other 
rules,  may  be  injudiciously  applied ;  and  it  must  be 
•  acknowledged  that  a  misapplication  of  them  is  but 
too  frequently  found  even  in  the  works  of  the  most 
considerable  artists. 

8* 


90 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a  figure  on  the  fore- 
ground represented  near  twice  the  size  of  another 
which  is  supposed  to  be  removed  but  a  few  feet  be- 
hind it ;  this,  though  true  according  to  rule,  will 
appear  monstrous.  This  error  proceeds  from  plac- 
ing the  point  of  distance  too  near  the  point  of  sight, 
by  which  means  the  diminution  of  objects  is  so  sud- 
den, as  to  appear  unnatural,  unless  you  stand  so 
near  the  picture  as  the  point  of  distance  requires, 
which  would  be  too  near  for  the  eye  to  comprehend 
the  whole  picture ;  whereas,  if  the  point  of  distance 
is  removed  so  far  as  the  spectator  may  be  supposed 
to  stand,  in  order  to  see  commodiously,  and  take 
within  his  view  the  whole,  the  figures  behind  w^ould 
then  sufier  under  no  such  violent  diminution. 

COMPOSITION. 

NoxmNG  so  much  breaks  in  upon,  and  destroys 
this  compactness,  as  that  mode  of  composition  which 
cuts  in  the  middle  the  figures  in  the  foreground, 
though  it  was  frequently  the  practice  of  the  great- 
est painters,  even  of  the  best  age :  Michael  Angelo 
has  it  in  the  crucifixion  of  St.  Peter ;  RafiFaelle  in 
the  cartoon  of  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul ;  and 
Parmigianino  often  showed  only  the  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  the  base  of  the  picture.  However,  the 
more  modern  painters,  notwithstanding  such  autho- 
rities, cannot  be  accused  of  having  fallen  into  this 
error. 


GENIDS. 


91 


But,  suppose  we  carry  the  reformation  still  far- 
ther, and  that  we  do  not  suffer  the  sides  of  the  pic- 
ture to  cut  off  any  part  of  the  figures,  the  composi- 
tion would  certainly  be  more  round  and  compact 
within  itself.  All  subjects,  it  is  true,  will  not  admit 
of  this ;  however,  we  may  safely  recommend  it, 
unless  the  circumstances  are  very  particular,  and 
such  as  are  certain  to  produce  some  striking  effect 
by  the  breach  of  so  just  a  rule. 

GENIUS. 

Nothing  in  the  art  requires  more  attention  and 
judgment,  or  more  of  that  power  of  discrimination 
which  may  not  improperly  be  called  genius,  than 
the  steering  between  general  ideas  and  individuality; 
for  though  the  body  of  the  work  must  certainly  be 
composed  by  the  first,  in  order  to  communicate  a 
character  of  grandeur  to  the  whole,  yet  a  dash  of 
the  latter  is  sometimes  necessary  to  give  an  interest. 
An  individual  model,  copied  with  scrupulous  exact- 
ness, makes  a  mean  style,  like  the  Dutch;  and  the 
neglect  of  an  actual  model,  and  the  method  of  pro- 
ceeding solely  from  idea,  has  a  tendency  to  make 
the  painter  degenerate  into  a-mannerist. 

In  order  to  keep  the  mind  in  repair,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  replace  and  refreshen  those  impressions  of 
nature  which  are  continually  wearing  away. 

A  circumstance  mentioned  in  the  life  of  Gnido  is 


92 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


well  worth  the  attention  of  artists.  He  was  asked 
from  whence  he  borrowed  his  idea  of  beauty, 
which  is  acknowledged  superior  to  that  of  any  other 
painter;  he  said  he  would  show  all  the  models  he 
used,  and  ordered  a  common  porter  to  sit  before  him, 
from  whom  he  drew  a  beautiful  countenance.  This 
was  undoubtedly  an  exaggeration  of  his  conduct  ; 
but  his  intention  was  to  show  that  he  thought  it  ne- 
cessary for  painters  to  have  some  model  of  nature 
before  them,  however  they  might  deviate  from  it, 
and  correct  it  from  the  idea  of  perfect  beauty  which 
they  have  formed  in  their  minds. 

In  painting  it  is  far  better  to  have  a  model  even 
to  depart  from,  than  to  have  nothing  fixed  and  cer- 
tain to  determine  the  idea. 

When  there  is  a  model,  there  is  something  to 
proceed  on,  something  to  be  corrected ;  so  that  even 
supposing  no  part  is  adopted,  the  model  has  still 
been  not  without  use. 

Such  habits  of  intercourse  with  nature,  will,  at 
least,  create  that  variety  which  will  prevent  any  one 
from  prognosticating,  on  being  informed  of  the  sub- 
ject, what  manner  of  work  the  painter  is  likely  to 
produce,  which  is  the  most  disagreeable  character 
an  artist  can  have. 

SINGLE  FIGCRES. 

When  the  picture  consists  of  a  single  figure  only, 
that  figure  must  be  contrasted  in  its  limbs  and  dra- 


SINGLE  FIGURES. 


93 


pery  with  great  variety  of  lines  ;  it  should  be  as 
much  as  possible  a  composition  of  itself.  It  may 
be  remarked,  that  such  a  complete  figure  will  never 
unite  or  make  part  of  a  group ;  as,  on  the  other  hand 
no  figure  of  a  well-conducted  group  will  stand  by 
itself. 

A  composition,  where  every  figure  is  such  as  I 
suppose  a  single  figure  ought  to  be,  and  those  like- 
wise contrasted  to  each  other,  which  is  not  uncom- 
mon in  the  works  of  young  artists,  produces  such 
an  assemblage  of  artifice  and  affectation  as  is  in  the 
highest  degree  unnatural  and  disgustful. 

There  is  another  circumstance  which,  though 
not  improper  in  single  figures,  ought  never  to  be 
practised  in  historical  pictures ;  that  of  represent- 
ing any  figure  as  looking  out  of  the  picture,  that  is, 
looking  at  the  person  Vv^ho  views  the  picture.  This 
conduct  in  history  gives  an  appearance  to  that 
figure  of  having  no  connection  wdth  the  rest ;  and 
ought,  therefore,  never  to  be  practised  except  in  lu- 
dicrous subjects. 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  variety  recommended 
in  a  single  figure,  can,  with  equal  success,  be  ex- 
tended to  colouring.  The  difficulty  will  be  in  dif- 
fusing the  colours  of  the  drapery  of  this  single  figure 
to  other  distant  parts  of  the  picture,  for  this  is  what 
harmony  requires ;  this  difficulty,  however,  seems 
to  be  evaded  in  the  works  of  Titian,  Vandyck,  and 


94 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


many  others,  by  dressing  their  single  figures  in 
black  or  white. 

Vandyck,  in  the  famous  portrait  of  Cardinal 
BentivogHo,  was  confined  in  his  dress  to  crimson 
velvet  and  white  linen ;  he  has,  therefore,  made  the 
curtain  in  the  background  of  the  same  crimson 
colour,  and  the  white  is  diffused  by  a  letter  which 
lies  on  the  table  ;  and  a  bunch  of  flowers  is  like- 
wise introduced  for  the  same  purpose. 

PARTS  OF  A  PICTURE. 

Every  part  which  goes  to  the  composition  of  a 
picture,  even  inanimate  objects,  are  capable,  to  a 
certain  degree,  of  conveying  sentiment,  and  con- 
tribute their  share  to  the  general  purpose  of  striking 
the  imagination  of  the  spectator.  The  disposition 
of  light,  or  the  folding  of  drapery,  will  give,  some- 
times, a  general  air  of  grandeur  to  the  whole  work. 

THE  PASSIONS. 

A  PAINTER,  whatever  he  may  feel,  will  not  be  able 
to  express  it  on  canvass,  without  having  recourse 
to  a  recollection  of  those  principles  by  which  the 
passion  required  is  expressed.  The  mind  thus  occu- 
pied, is  not  likely,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  possessed 
with  the  passion  which  he  is  representing. 

An  image  may  be  ludicrous,  and  in  its  first  con- 
ception make  the  painter  laugh,  as  well  as  the  spec- 


GLAZING  OR  SCKUMBLING. 


95 


tator ;  but  the  difficulty  of  his  art  makes  the  painter, 
in  the  course  of  his  work,  equally  grave  and  serious, 
whether  he  is  employed  on  the  most  ludicrous,  or 
the  most  solemn  subject. 

However,  we  may,  without  great  violence,  sup- 
pose this  rule  to  mean  no  more  than  that  a  sensibi- 
lity is  required  in  the  artist,  so  that  he  should  be 
capable  of  conceiving  the  passion  properly  before 
he  sets  about  reprinting  it  on  canvass. 

GLAZING  OR  SCRUMBLING. 

From  the  various  ancient  paintings  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  we  may  form  a  judgment  with 
tolerable  accuracy  of  the  excellencies  and  the  de- 
fects of  the  art  amongst  the  ancients.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  but  that  the  same  correctness  of  design 
was  required  from  the  painter  as  from  the  sculptor; 
and  if  what  has  happened  in  regard  to  their  paint- 
ings, and  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  possess  what 
the  ancients  themselves  esteemeed  their  master- 
pieces, I  have  no  doubt  but  we  should  find  their 
figures  as  correctly  drawn  as  the  Laocoon,  and 
probably  coloured  like  Titian.  What  disposes  me 
to  think  higher  of  their  colouring  than  any  remains 
of  ancient  painting  will  warrant,  is  the  account 
which  Pliny  gives  of  the  mode  of  operation  used 
by  Apelles  ;  that  over  his  finished  picture  he  spread 
a  transparent  liquid  like  ink,  of  which  the  eflfect  was 
to  give  brilliancy,  and  at  the  same  time  to  lower 


96 


THS  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


the  two  great  glare  of  the  colour.  This  custom, 
or  mode  of  operation,  implies,  at  least,  a  true  taste 
of  that  in  which  the  excellence  of  colouring  con- 
sists ;  which  does  not  proceed  from  fine  colours,  but 
true  colours;  from  breaking  down  these  fine  colours, 
which  would  appear  too  raw,  to  a  deep  toned 
brightness.  Perhaps  the  manner  in  which  Correg- 
Gio  practised  the  art  of  glazing  was  still  more  like 
that  of  Apelles,  which  was  only  perceptible  to 
those  who  looked  close  to  the  picture,  ad  manum 
intuenti  demuna  apparer^et ;  whereas,  in  Titian,  and 
still  more  in  Bassan,  and  others,  his  imitators,  it 
was  apparent  on  the  slightest  inspection.  Artists, 
who  may  not  approve  of  glazing,  must  still  ac- 
knowledge, that  this  practice  is  not  that  of  igno- 
rance. 

Another  circumstance,  that  tends  to  prejudice  me 
in  favour  of  their  colouring,  is  the  account  we  have 
of  some  of  their  principal  painters  using  but  four 
colours  only.  I  am  convinced  the  fewer  the  colours, 
the  clearer  will  be  the  effect  of  those  colours,  and 
that  four  are  sufficient  to  make  every  combination 
required.  Two  colours  mixed  together  will  not 
preserve  the  brightness  of  either  of  them  single, 
nor  will  three  be  as  bright  as  two  ;  of  this  observa- 
tion, simple  as  it  is,  an  artist,  who  wishes  to  colour 
bright,  will  know  the  value.  In  regard  to  their 
power  of  giving  peculiar  expression,  no  correct 
judgment  can  be  formed  ;  but  we  cannot  well  sup- 


GLAZING  OR  SCRUMBLING. 


97 


pose  that  men  who  were  capable  of  giving  that 
general  grandeur  of  character  which  so  eminently 
distinguishes  their  works  in  sculpture,  were  inca- 
pable of  expressing  peculiar  passions. 

As  to  the  enthusiastic  commendations  bestowed 
on  them  by  their  contemporaries,  I  consider  them 
as  no  weight.    The  best  words  are  always  em- 
ployed to  praise  the  best  works;  admiration  often 
proceeds   from   ignorance  of  higher  excellence. 
What  they  appear  to  have  most  failed  in  is  com- 
position, both  in  regard  to  the  grouping  of  their 
figures,  and  the  art  of  dispoj^g  the  hght  and 
shadow  in  masses.    It  is  apparent  that  this,  which 
makes  so  considerable  a  part  of  modern  art,  was 
to  them  totally  unknown.    If  the  great  painters 
had  possessed  this  excellence,  some  portion  of  it 
would  have  infalhbly  been  diffused,  and  have  been 
discoverable  in  the  works  of  the  inferior  rank  of 
artists,  such  as  those  whose  works  have  come  down 
to  us,  and  which  may  be  considered  as  on  the 
same  rank  with  the  paintings  that  ornament  our 
public  gardens.    Supposing  our  modern  pictures 
of  this  rank  only  were  preserved  for  the  inspection 
of  connoisseurs  two  thousand  years  hence,  the 
general  principles  of  composition  would  be  still 
discoverable  in  those  pieces ;  however  feebly  exe- 
cuted, there  would  be  seen  an  attempt  to  a  union 
of  the  figure  with  its  ground,  and  some  idea  of  dis- 
posing both  the  figures  and  the  lights  in  groups. 
9 


98 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


Now  as  nothing  of  this  appears  in  what  we  have 
of  ancient  painting,  we  may  conclude  that  this  part 
of  the  art  was  totally  neglected,  or  more  probably 
unknown.  They  might,  however,  have  produced 
single  figures  which  approached  perfection,  both  in 
drawing  and  colouring;  they  might  excel  in  a  solo, 
(in  the  language  of  musicians,)  though  they  were 
probably  incapable  of  composing  a  full  piece  for  a 
concert  of  different  instruments. 

MULTIPLICITY  OF  LIGHTS. 

The  same  right  judgment  which  proscribes  two 
equal  lights,  forbids  any  two  objects  to  be  intro- 
duced of  equal  magnitude  or  force,  so  as  to  appear 
to  be  competitors  for  the  attention  of  the  spectator. 
This  is  common;  but  I  do  not  think  it  quite  so 
common  to  extend  the  rule  so  far  as  it  ought  to  be 
extended.  Even  in  colours,  whether  of  the  warm 
or  cold  kind,  there  should  be  one  of  each  which 
should  be  apparently  principal  and  predominant  of 
the  rest.  It  must  be  observed,  even  in  drapery ; 
two  folds  of  the  same  drapery  must  not  be  of  equal 
magnitude. 

LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 

The  means  by  which  the  painter  works,  and  on 
which  the  effect  of  his  picture  depends,  are  light 
and  shade,  warm  and  cold  colours.    That  there  is 


LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 


99 


an  art  in  the  management  and  disposition  of  those 
means  will  be  easily  granted ;  and  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain, that  this  art  is  to  be  acquired  by  a  careful 
examination  of  the  works  of  those  who  have  ex- 
celled in  it. 

I  shall  here  set  down  the  result  of  the  observa- 
tions which  I  have  made  on  the  works  of  those 
artists,  who  appear  to  have  best  understood  the 
management  of  light  and  shade,  and  who  may  be 
considered  as  examples  for  imitation  in  this  branch 
of  the  art. 

Titian,  Paul  Veronese  and  Tintoret,  were 
among  the  first  painters  who  reduced  to  a  system 
what  was  before  practised  without  any  fixed  prin- 
ciple, and  consequently  neglected  occasionally. 
From  the  Venetian  painter,  Rubens  extracted  his 
scheme  of  composition,  which  was  soon  under- 
stood and  adopted  by  his  countrymen,  and  ex- 
tended even  to  the  minor  painters  of  familiar  life 
in  the  Dutch  school. 

When  I  was  at  Venice,  the  method  I  took  to 
avail  myself  of  their  principles  was  this.  When  I 
observed  an  extraordinary  effect  of  light  and  shade 
in  any  picture,  I  took  a  leaf  of  my  pocket-book, 
and  darkened  every  part  of  it  in  the  same  grada- 
tion of  light  and  shade  as  the  picture,  leaving  the 
white  paper  untouched  to  represent  the  light,  and 
this  without  any  attention  to  the  subject  or  the 
drawing  of  the  figures.    A  few  trials  of  this  kind 


100 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


will  be  sufficient  to  give  the  method  of  their  con- 
duct in  the  management  of  their  lights.  After  a 
few  experiments,  I  found  the  paper  blotted  nearly 
alike.  Their  general  practice  appeared  to  be,  to 
allow  not  above  a  quarter  of  the  picture  for  the 
light,  including  in  this  portion  both  the  principal 
and  secondary  lights,  another  quarter  to  be  as  dark 
as  possible,  and  the  remaining  half  kept  in  mezzo- 
tint or  half  shadow. 

Rubens  appears  to  have  admitted  rather  more 
light  than  a  quarter,  and  Rembrandt  much  less, 
scarce  an  eighth;  by  this  conduct  Rembrandt's 
light  is  extremely  brilliant,  but  it  costs  too  much — 
the  rest  of  the  picture  is  sacrificed  to  this  one  object. 
That  light  will  certainly  appear  the  brightest  which 
is  surrounded  with  the  greatest  quantity  of  shade, 
supposing  equal  skill  in  the  artist. 

By  this  means  you  may  likewise  remark  the 
various  forms  and  shapes  of  those  lights,  as  well  as 
the  objects  in  which  they  are  flung — whether  a 
figure,  or  the  sky,  a  white  napkin,  animals,  or 
utensils,  often  introduced  for  this  purpose  only.  It 
may  be  observed,  likewise,  what  portion  is  strongly 
relieved,  and  how  much  is  united  with  its  ground ; 
for  it  is  necessary  that  some  part,  (though  a  small 
one  is  sufficient,)  should  be  sharp  and  cutting 
against  its  ground,  whether  it  be  light  on  a  dark, 
or  dark  on  a  light  ground,  in  order  to  give  firm- 
ness and  distinctness  to  the  work.    If,  on  the  other 


HARMONY.  101 

hand,  it  is  relieved  on  every  side,  it  w^ill  appear  as 
if  inlaid  on  its  ground.  Such  a  blotted  paper, 
held  at  a  distance  from  the  eye,  will  strike  the 
spectator  as  something  excellent  for  the  disposition 
of  light  and  shadow,  though  he  does  not  distinguish 
whether  it  is  a  history,  a  portrait,  a  landscape, 
dead  game,  or  any  thing  else ;  for  the  same  prin- 
ciples extend  to  every  branch  of  the  art. 

Whether  I  have  given  an  exact  account,  or  made 
a  just  division  of  the  quantity  of  light  admitted  into 
the  works  of  those  painters,  is  of  no  very  great 
consequence;  let  every  person  examine  and  judge 
for  himself ;  it  will  be  sufficient  if  I  have  suggested 
a  mode  of  examining  pictures  this  way,  and  one 
means  at  least  of  acquiring  the  principles  on  which 
they  wrought. 

HARMONY. 

The  same  method  may  be  used  to  acquire  that 
harmonious  effect  of  colours,  which  was  recom- 
mended for  the  acquisition  of  light  and  shade — the 
adding  colours  to  the  darkened  paper ;  but  as  those 
are  not  always  at  hand,  it  may  be  sufficient,  if  the 
picture  which  you  think  worthy  of  imitating  be 
considered  in  this  light,  to  ascertain  the  quantity  of 
warm,  and  the  quantity  of  cold  colours. 

The  predominant  colours  of  the  picture  ought  to 
be  of  a  warm,  mellow  kind,  red  or  yellow;  and  no 
more  cold  colour  should  be  introduced  than  will  be 

9* 


102 


THE  THEORVr  OF  EFFECT. 


jast  enough  to  serve  as  a  ground  or  foil,  to  set  off 
and  give  value  to  the  mellow  colours,  and  never 
should  itself  be  a  principal.  For  this  purpose  a 
quarter  of  the  picture  will  be  sufficient.  Those 
cold  colours,  whether  blue,  grey,  or  green,  are  to 
be  dispersed  about  the  ground  or  surrounding  parts 
of  the  picture,  whether  it  has  the  appearance  of 
wanting  such  a  foil,  but  sparingly  employed  in  the 
masses  of  light. 

I  am  confident  that  an  habitual  examination  of 
the  works  of  those  painters  who  have  excelled  in 
harmony,  will,  by  degrees,  give  a  correctness  of 
eye  that  will  revolt  at  discordant  colours,  as  a 
musician's  ear  revolts  at  discordant  sounds. 

BACKGROUNDS. 

By  a  story  told  of  Rubens,  we  have  his  authority 
for  asserting,  that  to  the  effect  of  the  picture  the 
background  is  of  the  greatest  consequence. 

Rubens  being  desired  to  take  under  his  instruc- 
tions a  young  painter,  the  person  who  recom- 
mended him,  in  order  to  induce  Rubens  the  more 
readily  to  take  him,  said,  that  he  was  already 
somewhat  advanced  in  the  art,  and  that  he  would 
be  of  immediate  assistance  in  his  backgrounds. 
Rubens  smiled  at  his  simplicity,  and  told  him  that 
if  the  youth  was  capable  of  painting  his  back- 
grounds, he  stood  in  no  need  of  his  instructions ; 
that  the  regulation  and  management  of  them  re- 


BACKGROUNDS. 


103 


quired  the  most  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
art.  This  painters  know  to  be  no  exaggerated 
account  of  a  background,  being  fully  apprised  how 
much  the  effect  of  the  picture  depends  upon  it.  It 
must  be  in  union  with  the  figure,  so  as  not  to  have 
the  appearance  of  being  inlaid,  like  Holbein's  por- 
traits, which  are  often  on  a  bright  green  or  blue 
ground.  To  prevent  this  effect,  the  ground  must 
partake  of  the  colour  of  the  figure;  or,  as  expressed 
in  a  subsequent  line,  receive  all  the  treasures  of  the 
pallette.  The  background  regulates  likewise  where 
and  in  what  part  the  figure  is  to  be  relieved. 
When  the  form  is  beautiful,  it  is  to  be  seen  dis- 
tinctly; w^hen,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  uncouth  or  too 
angular,  it  may  be  lost  in  the  ground.  Sometimes 
a  light  is  introduced,  in  order  to  join  and  extend 
the  light  on  the  figure,  and  the  dark  side  of  the 
figure  is  lost  in  a  still  darker  background ;  for  the 
fewer  the  outlines  are  which  cut  against  the  ground, 
the  richer  will  be  the  effect,  as  the  contrary  pro- 
duces what  is  called  the  dry  manner. 

One  of  the  arts  of  supplying  the  defect  of  a  scan- 
tiness of  dress,  by  means  of  the  background,  may 
be  observed  in  a  whole  length  portrait  by  Van- 
DYCK,  which  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
tagu. The  dress  of  this  figure  would  have  had  an 
ungraceful  effect ;  he  has,  therefore,  by  means  of  a 
light  background  opposed  to  the  light  of  the  figure, 
and  by  the  help  of  a  curtain  that  catches  the  light 


104 


THE  THEORY  OP  EFFECT. 


near  the  figure,  made  the  effect  of  the  whole  toge- 
ther, full  and  rich  to  the  eye. 

THE  MODES  OF  HARMONY. 

All  the  modes  of  harmony,  or  of  producing  that 
effect  of  colours  which  is  required  in  a  picture, 
may  be  reduced  to  three,  two  of  which  belong  to 
the  grand  style,  and  the  other  to  the  ornamental. 

The  first  may  be  called  the  Roman  manner, 
where  the  colours  are  of  a  full  and  strong  body, 
such  as  are  found  in  the  Transfiguration ;  the  next 
is  that  harmony  which  is  produced  by  what  the 
ancients  called  the  corruption  of  the  colours,  by 
mixing  and  breaking  them  till  there  is  a  general 
union  in  the  whole,  without  any  thing  that  shall 
bring  to  your  remembrance  the  painter's  palette,  or 
the  original  colours.  This  may  be  called  the 
Bolognian  style,  and  it  is  this  hue  and  effect  of 
colours  which  Lodovico  Carraci  seems  to  have 
endeavoured  to  produce,  though  he  did  not  carry 
it  to  that  perfection  which  we  have  seen  since  his 
time,  in  the  small  works  of  the  Dutch  school,  parti- 
cularly Jan  Steen,  where  art  is  completely  con- 
cealed, and  the  painter,  like  a  great  orator,  never 
draws  the  attention  from  the  subject  on  himself. 

The  last  manner  belongs  properly  to  the  orna- 
mental style,  which  we  call  the  Venetian,  being 
first  practised  at  Venice,  but  is  perhaps  better 
learned  from  Rubens.  Here  the  brightest  colours 
possible  are  admitted,  with  the  two  extremes  of 


THE  MODKS  OF  HARMONY. 


105 


warm  and  cold,  and  those  reconciled  by  being 
dispersed  over  the  picture,  till  the  whole  appears 
like  a  bunch  of  flowers. 

As  I  have  given  instances  from  the  Dutch  school, 
where  the  art  of  breaking  colour  may  be  learned, 
we  may  recommend  here  an  attention  to  the  works 
of  Watteau,  for  excellence  in  this  florid  style  of 
painting.  To  all  these  different  manners  there  are 
some  general  rules,  that  must  never  be  neglected. 
First,  that  the  same  colour  which  makes  the  largest 
mass  be  diffused,  and  appear  to  revive  in  different 
parts  of  the  picture ;  for  a  single  colour  will  make 
a  spot  or  blot.  Even  the  dispersed  flesh  colour, 
which  the  faces  and  hands  make,  requires  a  prin- 
cipal mass,  which  is  best  produced  by  a  naked 
figure ;  but  where  the  subject  will  not  allow  of 
this,  a  drapery  approaching  to  flesh  colour  will 
answer  the  purpose,  as  in  the  Transfiguration, 
where  a  woman  is  clothed  in  drapery  of  this 
colour,  which  makes  a  principal  to  all  the  heads 
and  hands  of  the  picture  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of 
harmony,  the  colours,  however  distinguished  in 
their  light,  should  be  nearly  the  same  in  their 
shadows,  of  a 

 Simple  unity  of  shade, 

As  all  were  from  one  single  palette  spread 

and  to  give  the  utmost  force,  strength  and  solidity 
to  the  work,  some  part  of  the  picture  should  be  as 
light  and  some  as  dark  as  possible ;  these  two 


106 


THE  THEORY  OP  EFFECT. 


extremes  are  then  to  be  harmonized  and  reconciled 
to  each  other. 

Instances  where  both  of  them  are  used  may  be 
observed  in  two  pictures  of  Rubens,  which  are 
equally  eminent  for  the  force  and  brilliancy  of 
their  effect.  One  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Duke  of 
Rutland,  and  the  other  in  the  chapel  of  Rubens,  at 
Antwerp,  which  serves  as  his  monument.  In  both 
these  pictures  he  has  introduced  a  female  figure 
dressed  in  black  satin,  the  shadows  of  which  are 
as  dark  as  pure  black,  opposed  to  the  contrary 
extreme  of  brightness,  can  make  them. 

If  to  these  different  manners  we  add  one  more, 
that  in  which  a  silver-grey  or  pearly  tint  is  pre- 
dominant, I  believe  every  kind  of  harmony  that 
can  be  produced  by  colours  will  be  comprehended. 
One  of  the  greatest  examples  in  this  mode  is  the 
famous  Marriage  at  Cana,  in  St.  George's  Church 
at  Venice,  where  the  sky,  which  makes  a  very 
considerable  part  of  the  picture,  is  of  the  brightest 
blue  colour,  and  the  clouds  perfectly  white ;  the 
rest  of  the  picture  is  in  the  same  key,  wrought 
from  this  high  pitch.  We  see  likewise  many  pic- 
tures of  GuiDo  in  this  tint,  and  indeed  those  that 
are  so  are  in  his  best  manner.  Female  figures, 
angels  and  children  were  the  subjects  in  which 
GuiDo  more  particularly  succeeded;  and  to  such 
the  cleanness  and  neatness  of  this  tint  perfectly 
corresponds,  and  contributes  not  a  little  to  that 


THE  MODES  OP  HARMONY. 


107 


exquisite  beauty  and  delicacy  which  so  much  dis- 
tinguishes his  works.  To  see  this  style  in  perfec- 
tion, we  must  again  have  recourse  to  the  Dutch 
school,  Vandervelde  and  the  young  Teniers,  whose 
pictures  are  valued  by  the  connoisseurs  in  propor- 
tion as  they  possess  this  excellence  of  a  silver  tint. 
Which  of  these  different  styles  ought  to  be  pre- 
ferred, so  as  to  meet  every  man's  idea,  would  be 
difficult  to  determine,  from  the  predilection  which 
every  man  has  to  that  mode  which  is  practised  by 
the  school  in  which  he  has  been  educated;  but  if 
any  preeminence  is  to  be  given,  it  must  be  to  that 
manner  which  stands  in  the  highest  estimation 
with  mankind  in  general,  and  that  is  the  Venitian, 
or  rather  the  manner  of  Titian,  which,  simply  con- 
sidered as  producing  an  effect  of  colours,  will  cer- 
tainly eclipse  with  its  splendour  whatever  is  brought 
into  competition  with  it.  But,  as  I  hinted  before, 
if  female  delicacy  and  beauty  be  the  principal 
object  of  the  painter's  aim,  the  purity  and  clearness 
of  the  tint  of  Guido  will  correspond  better,  and 
more  contribute  to  produce  it  than  even  the  glow- 
ing tint  of  Titian. 

The  rarity  of  excellence  in  any  of  these  styles 
of  colouring  sufficiently  shows  the  difficulty  of  suc- 
ceeding in  them.  It  may  be  worth  the  artist's 
attention,  while  he  is  in  this  pursuit,  particularly  to 
guard  against  those  errors  which  seem  to  be  an- 
nexed to  or  divided  by  their  partitions  from  their 


108 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


neighbouring  excellence.  Thus  when  he  is  endea- 
vouring to  acquire  the  Roman  style,  if  he  is  not 
extremely  careful,  he  falls  into  a  hard  and  dry 
manner.  The  flowery  colouring  is  nearly  allied 
to  the  gaudy  effect  of  fan  painting.  The  sim- 
plicity of  the  Bolognian  style  requires  the  nicest 
hand  to  preserve  it  from  insipidity.  That  of  Titian, 
which  may  be  called  the  golden  manner,  when  un- 
skilfully managed,  becomes  what  the  painters  call 
foxy;  and  the  silver  degenerates  into  the  leaden 
and  heavy  manner.  None  of  them,  to  be  perfect 
in  their  way,  will  bear  any  union  with  each  other ; 
if  they  are  not  distinctly  separated  the  effect  of  the 
picture  will  be  feeble  and  insipid,  without  any 
mark  or  distinguished  character. 

DARK  SHADOWS. 

It  is  indeed  a  rule  adopted  by  many  painters,  to 
admit  in  no  part  of  the  background,  or  on  any 
object  in  the  picture,  shadows  of  equal  strength 
with  those  which  are  employed  on  the  principal 
figure ;  but  this  produces  a  false  representation. 
With  deference  to  our  author,  to  have  the  strong 
light  and  shadow  there  alone  is  not  to  produce  the 
best  natural  effect,  nor  is  it  authorized  by  the  prac- 
tice of  those  painters  who  are  most  distinguished 
for  harmony  of  colouring;  a  conduct,  therefore, 
totally  contrary  to  this,  is  absolutely  necessary,  that 


TASTE 


109 


the  same  strength,  the  same  tone  of  colour,  should 
be  diffused  over  the  whole  picture. 

I  am  no  enemy  to  dark  shadows.  The  general 
deficiency  to  be  observed  in  the  works  of  the 
painters  of  the  last  age,  as  well  as  indeed  of  many 
of  the  present,  is  a  feebleness  of  effect ;  they  seem 
to  be  too  much  afraid  of  those  midnight  shadows, 
which  alone  give  the  power  of  nature,  and  without 
which  a  picture  will  appear  like  one  wholly  want- 
ing solidity  and  strength.  The  lightest  and  gayest 
style  requires  this  foil  to  give  it  force  and  bril- 
liancy. 

TASTE. 

Taste  will  be  unavoidably  regulated  by  what  is 
continually  before  the  eyes.  It  were  therefore  well 
if  young  students  could  be  debarred  the  sight  of 
any  works  that  were  not  free  from  gross  faults, 
till  they  had  well  formed,  and,  as  I  may  say, 
hardened  their  judgment.  They  might  then  be 
permitted  to  look  about  them,  not  only  without 
fear  of  vitiating  their  taste,  but  even  with  advan- 
tage ;  and  would  often  find  great  ingenuity  and 
extraordinary  invention  in  works  which  are  under 
the  influence  of  a  bad  taste. 

FORM. 

The  first  business  of  the  student  is  to  be  able  to 
give  a  true  representation  of  whatever  object  pre- 
sents itself,  just  as  it  appears  to  the  eye,  so  as  to 
10 


110 


THE  TIIEORy  OF  EFFECT. 


amount  to  a  deception ;  and  the  geometric  rules  of 
perspective  are  included  in  this  study.  This  is  the 
language  of  the  art,  which  appears  the  more  neces- 
sary to  be  taught  early,  from  the  natural  repug- 
nance which  the  mind  has  to  such  mechanical 
labour,  after  it  has  acquired  a  relish  for  its  higher 
departments. 

The  next  step  is  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
beauty  of  form.  For  this  purpose  he  is  recom- 
mended to  the  study  of  the  Grecian  sculpture ;  and 
for  composition,  colouring  and  expression,  to  the 
great  works  at  Rome,  Venice,  Parma  and  Bo- 
logna. He  begins  now  to  look  for  those  excel- 
lencies which  address  themselves  to  the  imagina- 
tion, and  considers  deception  as  a  scaffolding  to 
be  now  thrown  aside,  as  of  no  importance  to  this 
finished  fabric. 

INVENTION. 

The  invention  of  a  painter  consists  not  only  in 
inventing  the  subject,  but  in  a  capacity  of  forming 
in  his  imagination  the  subject  in  a  manner  best 
accommodated  to  his  art,  though  wholly  borrowed 
from  poets,  historians,  or  popular  tradition.  For 
this  purpose  he  has  full  as  much  to  do,  and  perhaps 
more,  than  if  the  very  story  was  invented ;  for  he 
is  bound  to  follow  the  ideas  which  he  has  received, 
and  to  translate  them  (if  I  may  use  the  expression) 
into  another  art.    In  this  translation  the  painter's 


INVENTION. 


Ill 


invention  lies;  he  must  in  a  manner  new  cast  the 
whole,  and  model  it  in  his  own  imagination  to 
make  it  a  painter's  nourishment ; — it  must  pass 
through  a  painter's  mind.  Having  received  an  idea 
of  the  pathetic  and  grand  in  intellect,  he  has  next  to 
consider  how  to  make  it  correspond  with  what  is 
touching  and  awful  to  the  eye,  which  is  a  business 
by  itself.  But  here  begins  what  in  the  language  of 
painters  is  called  Invention,  which  includes  not 
only  the  composition,  or  the  putting  the  whole  to- 
gether, and  the  disposition  of  every  individual  part, 
but  likewise  the  management  of  the  background, 
the  effect  of  light  and  shadow,  and  the  attitude  of 
every  figure  or  animal  that  is  introduced,  or  makes 
a  part  of  the  work. 

Composition,  which  is  the  principal  part  of  the 
invention  of  a  painter,  is  by  far  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty he  has  to  encounter.  Every  man  that  can 
paint  at  all,  can  execute  individual  parts ;  but  to 
keep  those  parts  in  due  subordination  as  relative  to 
a  whole,  requires  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  art, 
that  more  strongly  implies  genius,  than  perhaps  any 
other  quality  whatever. 

SKETCHING. 

Then  let  the  virgin  canvas  smooth  expand, 

To  claim  the  sketch  and  tempt  the  artist's  hand. 

I  wish  to  understand  the  last  line  as  recommend- 
ing to  the  artist  to  paint  the  sketch  previously  on 
canvas,  as  was  the  practice  with  Rubens. 


112 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


This  method  of  painting  the  sketch,  instead  of 
merely  drawing  it  on  paper,  will  give  a  facility  in 
the  management  of  colours,  and  in  the  handling, 
which  the  Italian  painters,  not  having  this  custom 
wanted ;  by  habit,  he  will  acquire  equal  readiness 
in  doing  two  things  at  a  time,  as  in  doing  only  one. 
A  painter  should  paint  all  his  studies,  and  consider 
drawing  only  as  a  succedaneum,  when  colours  are 
not  at  hand.  This  was  the  practice  of  the  Veni- 
tian  painters,  and  of  all  those  who  have  excelled  in 
colouring.  The  method  of  Rubens  was  to  sketch 
his  composition  in  colours,  with  all  the  parts  more 
determined  than  sketches  generally  are ;  from  this 
sketch,  his  scholars  advanced  the  picture  as  far  as 
they  were  capable ;  after  which,  he  retouched  the 
whole  himself. 

The  painter's  operation  may  be  divived  into 
three  parts ;  the  planning,  which  implies  the  sketch 
of  the  general  composition  ;  the  transferring  that 
design  to  the  canvass  ;  and  the  finishing  or  retouch- 
ing the  whole.  If,  for  despatch,  the  artist  looks  out 
for  assistance,  it  is  in  the  middle  stage  only  he  can 
receive  it ;  the  first  and  last  operation  must  be  the 
work  of  his  own  hand. 

SYMMETRY  IN  GROUPING. 

Though  the  painter  borrows  his  subject,  he  con- 
siders his  art  as  not  subservient  to  any  other.  His 
business  is  something  more  than  assisting  the  histo- 


SYMMETRY  IN  GROUPING. 


113 


rian  with  explanatory  figures ;  as  soon  as  he  takes 
it  into  his  hands,  he  adds,  retouches,  transposes, 
and  moulds  it  anew,  till  it  is  made  fit  for  his  own 
art ;  he  avails  himself  of  the  privileges  allowed  to 
poets  and  painters,  and  dares  every  thing  to  accom- 
plish his  ends,  by  means  correspondent  to  that  end, 
to  impress  the  spectator  with  the  same  interest  at 
the  sight  of  his  representation,  as  the  poet  has  con- 
trived to  impress  on  the  reader  by  his  description : 
the  end  is  the  same  in  both  cases,  though  the  means 
are  and  must  be  different.  Ideas  different,  to  be 
conveyed  to  the  mind  by  one  sense,  cannot  always, 
with  equal  success,  be  conveyed  by  another. 

Even  the  historian  takes  great  liberties  with 
facts,  in  order  to  interest  his  readers,  and  makes 
his  narrative  more  delightful ;  much  greater  right 
has  the  painter  to  do  this,  who,  though  his  work  is 
called  History-Painting,  gives  in  reality  a  practical 
representation  of  events. 

As  it  is  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  variety,  that 
figures  not  only  of  different  ages,  but  of  different 
forms  and  characters,  be  introduced  in  a  work 
where  many  figures  are  required,  care  must  be 
taken  that  those  different  characters  have  a  certain 
consonance  of  parts  among  themselves,  such  as  is 
generally  found  in  nature  ;  a  fat  face,  for  instance, 
is  usually  accompanied  with  a  proportional  degree 
of  corpulency  of  body;  an  aquihne  nose  for  the 
most  part,  belongs  to  a  thin  countenance,  with  a 

10* 


114 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


body  and  limbs  corresponding  to  it ;  but  these  are 
observations  which  must  occur  to  every  body. 

Yet  there  are  others  that  are  not  so  obvious  ; 
and  those  who  have  turned  their  thoughts  this  way, 
may  form  a  probable  conjecture  concerning  the 
form  of  the  rest  of  the  figure  from  a  part,  from  the 
fingers,  or  from  a  single  feature  of  the  face ;  for  in- 
stance, those  who  are  born  crook-backed,  have 
commonly  a  peculiar  form  of  lips  and  expression 
in  the  mouth,  that  strongly  denotes  that  deformity. 

FINISH. 

The  highest  finishing  is  labour  in  vain,  unless  at 
the  same  time  there  be  preserved  a  breadth  of  light 
and  shadow;  it  is  a  quality,  therefore,  that  is  more 
frequently  recommended  to  students,  and  insisted 
upon,  than  any  other  whatever ;  and,  perhaps,  for 
this  reason,  because  it  is  most  apt  to  be  neglected, 
the  attention  of  the  artist  being  so  often  entirely 
absorbed  in  the  detail. 

To  illustrate  this,  we  may  have  recourse  to 
Titian's  bunch  of  grapes,  which  we  will  suppose 
to  be  placed,  so  as  to  receive  a  broad  light  and 
shadow.  Here,  though  each  individual  grape  on 
the  light  side  has  its  light  and  shadow,  and  reflec- 
tion, yet  altogether  they  make  but  one  broad  mass 
of  light.  The  slightest  sketch,  therefore,  where  this 
breadth  is  preserved,  will  have  a  better  effect,  will 
have  more  the  appearance  of  coming  from  a  mas- 


THE  OPINION  OF  OTIIEKS. 


115 


ter  hand,  that  is,  in  other  words,  will  have  more 
the  characteristic  and  generale  of  nature,  than  the 
nnost  laborious  finishing,  when  this  breadth  is  lost 
or  neglected. 

THE  OPINION  OF  OTHERS. 

There  are  few  spectators  of  a  painter's  work, 
learned  or  unlearned,  who  if  they  can  be  induced 
to  speak  their  real  sensations,  would  not  be  profit- 
able to  the  artist.  The  only  opinions  of  which  no 
use  can  be  made,  are  those  of  half  learned  connois- 
seurs, who  have  quitted  nature  and  have  not  ac- 
quired art.  That  same  sagacity  which  makes  a 
man  excel  in  his  profession,  must  assist  him  in  the 
proper  use  to  be  made  of  the  judgment  of  the 
learned,  and  the  opinions  of  the  vulgar.  Of  many 
things,  the  vulgar  are  as  competent  judges  as  the 
most  learned  connoisseur;  of  the  portrait,  for  in- 
stance, of  an  animal;  or,  perhaps,  of  the  truth  of 
the  representations  of  some  vulgar  passion.  It 
must  be  expected,  that  the  untaught  vulgar  will 
carry  with  them  the  same  w^ant  of  right  taste  in 
the  judgment  they  make  of  the  effect  or  character 
in  a  picture  as  they  do  in  life,  and  prefer  a  strut- 
ting figure  and  gaudy  colours  to  the  grandeur  of 
simplicity  ;  but  if  this  same  vulgar  person,  or  even 
an  infant,  should  mistake  for  dirt  what  was  intend- 
ed to  be  a  shade,  it  might  be  apprehended  that  the 
shadow  was  not  the  true  colour  of  nature,  with 


116 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


almost  as  much  certainty  as  if  the  observation  had 
been  made  by  the  most  able  connoisseur. 

PRACTICE. 

However  admirable  his  taste  may  be,  he  is  but 
half  a  painter  who  can  only  conceive  his  subjects, 
and  is  without  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  part 
of  his  art ;  as  on  the  other  hand,  his  skill  may  be 
said  to  be  thrown  away,  who  has  employed  his 
colours  on  subjects  that  create  no  interest  from  their 
beauty,  their  character,  or  expression.  One  part 
often  absorbs  the  whole  mind  to  the  neglect  of  the 
rest :  the  young  student  whilst  at  Rome,  studying 
the  works  of  Michael  Angelo  and  Raffaelle,  are 
apt  to  lose  all  relish  for  any  kind  of  excellence, 
except  what  is  found  in  their  works.  Perhaps 
going  afterwards  to  Venice,  they  may  be  induced 
to  think  there  are  other  things  required,  and  that 
nothing  but  the  most  superlative  excellence  in  de- 
sign, character,  and  dignity  of  style,  can  atone  for 
a  deficiency  in  the  ornamental  graces  of  the  art. 
Excellence  must  of  course  be  rare  ;  and  one  of  the 
causes  of  its  rarity,  is  the  necessity  of  uniting  quali- 
ties which  in  their  nature  are  contrary  to  each 
other ;  and  yet  no  approaches  can  be  made  towards 
perfection  without  it.  Every  art  or  profession  re- 
quires this  union  of  contrary  qualities,  like  the  har- 
mony of  colouring,  w^hich  is  produced  by  an 
opposition  of  hot  and  cold  hues. 


PREJUDICE. 


117 


The  poet  and  the  painter  must  unite  to  the 
warmth  that  accompanies  a  poetical  imagination, 
patience  and  perseverance,  the  one  in  counting 
syllables  and  toiling  for  a  rhyme,  and  the  other  in 
labouring  the  minute  parts,  and  finishing  the  detail 
of  his  works,  in  order  to  produce  the  great  effect 
he  desires ;  they  must  both  possess  a  comprehen- 
sive mind  that  takes  in  the  whole  at  one  view,  and 
at  the  same  time  an  accuracy  of  eye  or  mind  that 
distinguishes  between  two  things,  that  to  an  ordi- 
nary spectator  appear  the  same,  whether  this  con- 
sists in  tints  or  words,  or  the  nice  discrimination  in 
which  expression  and  elegance  depends. 

PREJUDICE. 

Prejudice  is  generally  used  in  a  bad  sense,  to 
imply  a  predilection,  not  founded  on  reason  or 
nature,  in  favour  of  a  particular  master,  or  a  parti- 
cular manner,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  opposed 
with  all  our  force  ;  but  totally  to  eradicate  in  ad- 
vanced age  what  has  so  much  assisted  us  in  our 
youth,  is  a  point  to  which  we  cannot  hope  to  arrive. 
The  difficulty  of  conquering  this  prejudice  is  to  be 
considered  in  the  number  of  those  causes  which 
makes  excellence  so  very  rare. 

Whoever  would  make  a  rapid  progress  in  any 
art  or  science,  must  begin  by  having  great  confi- 
dence in,  and  even  prejudice  in  favour  of  his  in- 
structions; but  to  continue  to  think  him  infalHble, 


118 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


would  be  continuing  for  ever  in  a  state  of  infancy. 
It  is  impossible  to  draw  a  line,  where  the  artist  shall 
begin  to  dare  to  examine  and  criticise  the  works 
of  his  master,  or  of  the  greatest  master-pieces  of 
art;  we  can  only  say,  that  his  progress  to  this 
capacity  will  be  gradual.  In  proportion  as  the 
scholar  learns  to  analyze  the  excellence  of  the 
masters,  he  esteems,  in  proportion  as  he  comes  ex- 
actly to  distinguish  in  what  that  excellence  consists, 
and  refer  it  to  some  precise  rule  and  fixed  standard; 
in  that  proportion,  he  becomes  free.  When  he  has 
once  laid  hold  of  their  'principle,  he  will  see  when 
they  deviate  from  it,  or  fail  to  come  up  to  it ;  so 
that  it  is  in  reality  through  his  extreme  admiration 
of,  and  blind  deference  to  these  masters,  (without 
which  he  never  would  have  employed  an  intense 
application  to  discover  the  rule  and  scheme  of  their 
works,)  that  he  is  enabled,  if  I  may  use  the  expres- 
sion, to  emancipate  himself  even  to  get  above  them, 
and  to  become  the  judge  of  those  of  whom  he  was 
at  first  the  humble  disciple. 

In  heroic  subjects  it  will  not,  I  hope,  appear  too 
great  a  refinement  of  criticism  to  say,  that  the 
want  of  naturalness  or  deception  of  the  act,  which 
gives  to  an  inferior  style  its  whole  value,  is  no 
material  disadvantage  ;  the  hours,  for  instance,  as 
represented  by  Julio  Romano,  giving  provender 
to  the  horses  of  the  sun,  would  not  strike  the  im- 
agination more  forcibly  from  their  being  coloured 


PREJUDICE. 


119 


with  the  pencil  of  Rubens,  though  he  would  have 
represented  them  more  naturally;  but  might  he  not 
possibly,  by  that  very  act,  have  brought  them  down 
from  the  celestial  state  to  the  rank  of  mere  terres- 
trial animals  ?  In  these  things,  however,  I  admit 
there  will  always  be  a  degree  of  uncertainty.  Who 
know^s  that  Julio  Romano,  if  he  had  possessed  the 
art  and  practice  of  colouring  like  Rubens,  would 
not  have  given  to  it  some  taste  of  poetical  grandeur 
not  yet  attained  to  ? 

The  same  familiar  naturalness  would  be  equally 
an  imperfection  in  characters  which  are  to  be 
represented  as  demi-gods,  or  something  above 
humanity. 

Though  it  would  be  far  from  an  addition  to  the 
merit  of  those  two  great  painters  to  have  made 
their  works  deceptions  ;  yet  there  can  be  no  reason 
why  they  might  not,  in  some  degree,  and  with  a 
judicious  caution  and  selection,  have  availed  them- 
selves of  many  excellencies  which  are  found  in  the 
Venitian,  Flemish,  and  even  Dutch  Schools,  and 
which  have  been  inculcated  in  this  poem.  There 
are  some  of  them  which  are  not  in  absolute  contra- 
diction to  any  style ;  the  happy  disposition,  for  in- 
stance, of  light  and  shade;  the  preservation  of 
breadth  in  the  masses  of  colours;  the  union  of  these 
with  their  grounds  ;  and  the  harmony  arising  from 
a  due  mixture  of  hot  and  cold  hues,  with  many 
other  excellencies,  not  inseparably  connected  with 


120 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


that  individuality  which  produces  deception,  would 
surely  not  counteract  the  effect  of  the  grand  style ; 
they  would  only  contribute  to  the  case  of  the  spec- 
tator, by  making  the  vehicle  pleasing  by  which 
ideas  are  conveyed  to  the  mind,  which  otherwise 
might  be  perplexed  and  bewildered  with  a  confused 
assemblage  of  objects;  they  would  add  a  certain 
degree  of  grace  and  sweetness  to  thought  and 
grandeur.  Though  the  merits  of  those  two  great 
painters  are  of  such  transcendency  as  to  make  us 
overlook  their  deficiency,  yet  a  subdued  attention 
to  these  inferior  excellencies  must  be  added  to 
complete  the  idea  of  a  perfect  painter. 

Deception,  which  is  often  recommended  by 
writers  on  the  theory  of  painting,  instead  of  advanc- 
ing the  art,  is  in  reality  carrying  it  back  to  its  infant 
state;  the  first  essays  of  painting  were  certainly 
nothing  but  mere  imitation  of  individual  objects, 
and  when  this  amounted  to  a  deception,  the  artist 
had  accomplished  his  purpose. 

And  here  I  must  observe,  that  the  arts  of  paint- 
ing and  poetry  seem  to  have  no  kind  of  resemblance 
in  their  early  stages.  The  first,  or  at  least  the 
second  stage  of  poetry  in  every  nation,  is  removed 
as  far  as  possible  from  common  life  ;  every  thing 
is  of  the  marvellous  kind;  it  treats  only  of  heroes, 
wars,  ghosts,  enchantments,  and  transformations. 
The  poet  could  not  expect  to  seize  and  captivate 
the  attention,  if  he  related  only  common  occur- 


NATURE. 


121 


rences,  such  as  every  day  produces.  Whereas,  the 
painter  exhibited  what  then  appeared  a  great  effort 
of  art,  by  merely  giving  the  appearance  of  reUef  to 
a  flat  superficies,  however  uninteresting  in  itself 
that  object  might  be;  but  this  soon  satiating,  the 
same  entertainment  was  required  from  painting, 
which  had  been  experienced  in  poetry.  The  mind 
and  imagination  were  to  be  satisfied,  and  required 
to  be  amused  and  delighted,  as  well  as  the  eye; 
and  when  the  art  proceeded  to  a  still  higher  degree 
of  excellence,  it  was  then  found  that  this  deception 
not  only  did  not  assist,  but  even  in  a  certain  degree 
counteracted  the  flight  of  imagination  ;  hence  pro- 
ceeded the  Roman  school;  and  it  is  from  hence 
that  Raflaelle,  Michael  Angelo,  and  Julio  Romano 
stand  in  that  prominence  of  rank  in  which  Fresnoy 
has  justly  placed  them. 

NATURE. 

Nature  is  in  reality  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  theory.  It  is  in  nature  only  we  can  find  that 
beauty  which  is  the  great  object  of  our  search ;  it 
can  be  found  nowhere  else ;  we  can  no  more  form 
any  idea  of  beauty  superior  to  nature,  than  we  can 
form  an  idea  of  a  sixth  sense,  or  any  other  excel- 
lence out  of  the  limits  of  the  human  mind.  We 
are  forced  to  confine  our  conception  even  of  heaven 
itself  and  its  inhabitants  to  what  we  see  in  this 
world ;  even  the  Supreme  Being,  if  he  is  repre- 
11 


122 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


seated  at  all,  the  painter  has  no  other  way  of 
representing,  than  by  reversing  the  decree  of  the 
inspired  lawgiver,  and  making  God  after  his  own 
image. 

Nothing  can  be  so  unphilosophical,  as  a  supposi- 
tion that  we  can  form  any  idea  of  beauty  or  excel- 
lence out  of  or  beyond  nature,  which  is  and  must 
be  the  fountain-head,  from  whence  all  our  ideas 
must  be  derived. 

This  being  acknowledged,  it  must  follow,  of 
course,  that  all  the  niles  which  this  theory,  or  any 
other,  teaches,  can  be  no  more  than  teaching  the 
art  of  seeing  nature. 

The  rules  of  art  are  formed  on  the  various 
works  of  those  who  have  studied  nature  the  most 
successfully;  by  this  advantage,  of  observing  the 
various  manners  in  which  various  minds  have 
contemplated  her  works,  the  artist  enlarges  his 
own  views,  and  is  taught  to  look  for  and  see  what 
otherwise  would  have  escaped  his  observation. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  there  are  two  modes 
of  imitating  nature,  one  of  which  refers  for  its 
truth  to  the  sensations  oi  the  mind,  and  the  other 
to  the  eye. 

Some  schools,  such  as  the  Roman  and  Floren- 
tine, appear  to  have  addressed  themselves  princi- 
pally to  the  mind ;  others  solely  to  the  eye,  such  as 
the  Venitian  in  the  instances  of  Paul  Veronese 
and  TiNTORET ;  others  again  have  endeavoured  to 


NATURE, 


123 


unite  both,  by  joining  the  elegance  and  grace  of 
ornament  with  the  strength  and  vigour  of  design — 
such  are  the  schools  of  Bologna  and  Parma. 

All  those  schools  are  equally  to  be  considered  as 
followers  of  nature.  He  who  produces  a  work 
analogous  to  the  mind  or  imagination  of  man,  is 
as  natural  a  painter  as  he  whose  works  are  calcu- 
lated to  delight  the  eye ;  the  works  of  Michael 
Angelo  or  Julio  Romano,  in  this  sense,  may  be 
said  to  be  as  natural  as  those  of  the  Dutch  painters. 
The  study,  therefore,  of  the  nature  or  affections  of 
the  mind  is  as  necessary  to  the  theory  of  the  higher 
department  of  the  art,  as  the  knowledge  of  what 
will  be  pleasing  or  offensive  to  the  eye  is  to  the 
lower  style. 

What  relates  to  the  mind  or  imagination,  such 
as  invention,  character,  expression,  grace  or  gran- 
deur, certainly  cannot  be  taught  by  rules;  little 
more  can  be  done  than  pointing  out  where  they 
are  to  be  found.  It  is  a  part  which  belongs  to 
general  education,  and  will  operate  in  proportion 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  of  the  artist.  The 
greater  part  of  the  rules  in  this  work  are,  there- 
fore, necessarily  confined  to  what  relates  to  the 
eye ;  and  it  may  be  remarked,  that  none  of  those 
rules  make  any  pretensions  towards  improving 
nature,  or  going  contrary  to  her  work ;  their  ten- 
dency is  merely  to  show  what  is  truly  nature. 

Thus,  for  instance,  a  flowing  outline  is  recom- 


124 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


mended,  because  beauty,  (which  alone  is  nature,) 
cannot  be  produced  without  it.  Old  age  or  lean- 
ness produces  straight  lines,  corpulency  round  lines; 
but  in  a  state  of  health,  accompanying  youth,  the 
outlines  are  waving,  flowing  and  serpentine.  Thus 
again,  if  we  are  told  to  avoid  the  chalk,  the  brick 
or  leaden  colour,  it  is  because  real  flesh  never  par- 
takes of  those  hues,  though  ill-coloured  pictures 
are  always  inclinable  to  one  or  other  of  those 
defects. 

Rules  are  to  be  considered  likewise  as  fences, 
placed  only  where  trespass  is  expected,  and  are 
particularly  enforced  in  proportion  as  peculiar 
faults  or  defects  are  prevalent  at  the  time  or  age 
in  which  they  are  delivered ;  for  what  may  be 
proper  strongly  to  recommend  or  enforce  in  one 
age,  may  not  with  equal  propriety  be  so  much 
laboured  in  another,  when  it  may  be  the  fashion 
for  artists  to  run  into  the  contrary  extreme,  pro- 
ceeding from  prejudice  to  a  manner  adopted  by 
some  favourite  painter  then  in  vogue. 

When  it  is  recommended  to  preserve  a  breadth 
of  colour  or  light,  it  is  not  intended  that  the  artist 
is  to  work  broader  than  nature ;  but  this  lesson  is 
insisted  on  because  we  know,  from  experience, 
that  the  contrary  is  a  fault  which  artists  are  apt  to 
be  guilty  of,  who,  when  they  are  examining  and 
finishing  the  detail,  neglect  or  forget  that  breadth 


NATURE. 


125 


which  is  observable  only  when  the  eye  takes  in  the 
effect  of  the  whole. 

Thus  again,  we  recommend  to  paint  soft  and 
tender,  to  make  a  harmony  and  union  of  colouring; 
and  for  this  end,  that  all  the  shadows  shall  be 
nearly  of  the  same  colour.  The  reason  of  these 
precepts  being  at  all  enforced,  proceeds  from  the 
disposition  which  artists  have  to  paint  harder  than 
nature,  to  make  the  outline  more  cutting  against 
the  ground,  and  to  have  less  harmony  and  union 
than  is  found  in  nature,  preserving  the  same  bright- 
ness of  colour  in  the  shadows  as  are  seen  in  the 
lights  ;  both  these  false  manners  of  representing 
nature  were  the  practice  of  the  painters  when  the 
art  was  in  its  infancy,  and  would  be  the  practice 
now  of  every  student  who  was  left  to  himself,  and 
had  never  been  taught  the  art  of  seeing  nature. 
There  are  other  rules  which  may  be  said  not  so 
much  to  relate  to  the  objects  represented  as  to  the 
eye ;  but  the  truth  of  these  are  as  much  fixed  in 
nature  as  the  others,  and  proceed  from  the  neces- 
sity there  is  that  the  work  should  be  seen  with 
ease  and  satisfaction  ;  to  this  end  are  all  the  rules 
that  relate  to  grouping,  and  the  disposition  of  light 
and  shade. 

With  regard  to  precepts  about  moderation  and 
avoiding  extremes,  little  is  to  be  drawn  from  them. 
The  rule  would  be  too  minute  that  had  any  exact- 
ness at  all;  a  multiplicity  of  exceptions  would  arise, 

11* 


126 


THE  THEORY  OF  EFFECT. 


SO  that  the  teacher  would  be  for  ever  saying  too 
much,  and  yet  never  enough.  When  a  student  is 
instructed  to  mark  with  precision  every  part  of  his 
figure,  whether  it  be  naked  or  in  drapery,  he  pro- 
bably becomes  hard ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  told 
to  paint  in  the  most  tender  manner,  possibly  he 
becomes  insipid.  But  among  extremes  some  are 
more  tolerable  than  others ;  of  the  two  extremes  I 
have  just  mentioned,  the  hard  manner  is  the  most 
pardonable — carrying  with  it  an  air  of  learning,  as 
if  the  artist  knew  with  precision  the  true  form  of 
nature,  though  he  had  rendered  it  with  too  heavy 
a  hand. 

In  every  part  of  the  human  figure,  when  not 
spoiled  by  two  great  corpulency,  will  be  found  this 
distinctness,  the  parts  never  appearing  uncertain 
or  confused,  or,  as  a  musician  would  say,  slurred, 
and  all  those  smaller  parts,  which  are  compre- 
hended in  the  larger  compartment,  are  still  to  be 
there,  however  tenderly  marked. 

To  conclude,  in  all  minute,  detailed  and  prac- 
tical excellence,  general  precepts  must  be  either 
deficient  or  unnecessary;  for  the  rule  is  not  known> 
nor  is  it  indeed  to  any  purpose  a  rule,  if  it  be 
necessary  to  inculcate  it  on  every  occasion. 


127 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH  OF  DU  FRESNOY. 

True  Poetry  the  Painter's  power  displays  ; 
True  Painting  emulates  the  Poet's  lays ; 
The  rival  sisters,  fond  of  equal  fame, 
Alternate  change  their  office  and  their  name ; 
Bid  silent  Poetry  the  canvas  warm. 
The  tuneful  page  with  speaking  picture  charm. 

What  to  the  ear  sublimer  rapture  brings, 
That  strain  alone  the  genuine  Poet  sings ; 
That  form  alone  where  glows  peculiar  grace, 
The  genuine  Painter  condescends  to  trace : 
No  sordid  theme  will  verse  or  paint  admit. 
Unworthy  colours,  if  unworthy  wit. 

Jf:  *  *  JfJ  *  *  sf 

*Tis  Painting's  first  chief  business  to  explore, 
What  lovelier  forms  in  Nature's  boundless  store 
Are  best  to  art  and  ancient  taste  allied, 
For  ancient  taste  those  forms  has  best  applied. 

Till  this  be  learn'd,  how  all  things  disagree  ! 
How  all  one  wretched,  blind  barbarity  ! 
The  fool  to  native  ignorance  confin'd. 
No  beauty  beaming  on  his  clouded  mind  ; 
Untaught  to  relish,  yet  too  proud  to  learn, 
He  scorns  the  grace  his  dulness  can't  discern. 
Hence  reason  to  caprice  resigns  the  stage, 
And  hence  that  maxim  of  the  ancient  tSage, 
"  Of  all  vain  fools  with  coxcomb  talents  curst, 
*'  Bad  Painters  and  bad  Poets  are  the  worst." 

When  first  the  orient  rays  of  beauty  move 
The  conscious  soul,  they  light  the  lamp  of  love ; 
Love  wakes  those  warm  desires  that  prompt  our  chace, 
To  follow  and  to  fix  each  flying  grace  : 
But  earth-born  graces  sparingly  impart 
The  symmetry  supreme  of  perfect  art : 
For  the'  our  casual  glance  may  sometimes  meet 


128 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


With  charms  that  strike  the  soul,  and  seem  complete, 
Yet  if  those  charms  too  closely  we  define, 
Content  to  copy  nature  line  for  line, 
Our  end  is  lost.    Not  such  the  Master's  care, 
Curious  he  culls  the  perfect  from  the  fair ; 
Judge  of  his  art,  thro'  beauty's  realm  he  flies, 
Selects,  combines,  improves,  diversifies ; 
With  nimble  step  pursues  the  fleeting  throng. 
And  clasps  each  Venus  as  she  glides  along. 

Yet  some  there  are  who  indiscreetly  stray. 
Where  purblind  practice  only  points  the  way ; 
Who  every  theoretic  truth  disdain. 
And  blunder  on  mechanically  vain. 
Some  too  there  are^  within  whose  languid  breasts 
A  lifeless  heap  of  embryo  knowledge  rests. 
When  nor  the  pencil  feels  their  drowsy  art. 
Nor  the  skill'd  hand  explains  the  meaning  heart. 
In  chains  of  sloth  such  talents  droop  confin'd  : 
'Twas  not  by  words  Apelles  charm'd  mankind. 

Hear  then  the  Muse ;  tho'  perfect  beauty  towers 
Above  the  reach  of  her  descriptive  powers. 
Yet  will  she  strive  some  leading  rules  to  draw 
From  sovereign  Nature's  universal  law  ; 
Stretch  her  wide  view  o'er  ancient  Art's  domain, 
Again  establish  Reason's  legal  reign. 
Genius  again  correct  with  science  sage. 
And  curb  luxuriant  fancy's  headlong  rage. 
"  Right  ever  reigns  its  stated  bounds  between, 
"  And  taste,  like  morals,  loves  the  golden  mean." 

Some  lofty  theme  let  judgment  first  supply, 
Supremely  fraught  with  grace  and  majesty ; 
For  fancy  copious,  free  to  every  charm 
That  lines  can  circumscribe  or  colours  warm  ; 
Still  happier,  if  that  artful  theme  dispense 
A  poignant  moral  and  instructive  sense. 

Then  let  the  virgin  canvas  smooth  expand, 
To  claim  the  sketch  and  tempt  the  Artist's  hand  : 
Then,  bold  Invention,  all  the  powers  diffuse, 
Of  all  thy  sisters  thou  the  noblest  Muse  : 
Thee  every  art,  thee  every  grace  inspires, 
Thee  Phoebus  fills  with  all  his  brightest  fires. 

Choose  such  judicious  force  of  shade  and  light 
As  suits  the  theme,  and  satisfies  the  sight ; 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


1 


Weigh  part  with  part,  and  with  prophetic  eye 
The  future  power  of  all  thy  tints  descry  ; 
And  those,  those  only  on  the  canvas  place. 
Whose  hues  are  social,  whose  effect  is  grace. 

Vivid  and  faithful  to  the  historic  page, 
Express  the  customs,  manners,  forms,  and  age  ; 
Nor  paint  conspicuous  on  the  foremost  plain 
Whate'er  is  false,  impertinent,  or  vain  ; 
But  like  the  Tragic  Muse,  thy  lustre  throw, 
Where  the  chief  action  claims  its  warmest  glow. 
This  rare,  this  arduous  task  no  rules  can  teach, 
No  skill'd  preceptor  point,  no  practice  reach ; 
'Tis  taste,  'tis  genius,  'tis  the  heav'nly  ray 
Prometheus  ravish'd  from  the  car  of  day. 

*  *  :ic  *  *  >f«  * 

Learn  then  from  Greece,  ye  youths.  Proportion's  law, 
Inform'd  by  her,  each  just  Position  draw; 
Skilful  to  range  each  large  unequal  part, 
With  varied  motion  and  contrasted  art ; 
Full  in  the  front  the  nobler  limbs  to  place. 
And  poise  each  figure  on  its  central  base. 

But  chief  from  her  that  flowing  outline  take, 
Which  floats,  in  wavy  windings,  like  the  snake, 
Or  lambent  flame  ;  which,  ample,  broad  and  long, 
Reliev'd  not  swell'd,  at  once  both  light  and  strong. 
Glides  thro'  the  graceful  whole.    Her  art  divine 
Cuts  not,  in  parts  minute,  the  tame  design. 
But  by  a  few  bold  strokes,  distinct  and  free. 
Calls  forth  the  charms  of  perfect  symmetry. 
True  to  anatomy,  more  true  to  grace. 
She  bids  each  muscle  know  its  native  place  ; 
Bids  small  from  great  in  just  gradation  rise. 
And,  at  one  visual  point,  approach  the  eyes. 

Yet  deem  not,  youths,  that  perspective  can  give 
Those  charms  complete  by  which  your  works  shall  live 
What  tho'  her  rules  may  to  your  hand  impart 
A  quick  mechanic  substitute  for  art. 
Yet  formal,  geometric  shapes  she  draws ; 
Hence  the  true  Genius  scorns  her  rigid  laws; 
By  Nature  taught  he  strikes  th'  unerring  lines, 
Consults  his  eye,  and  as  he  sees  designs. 

Man's  changeful  race,  the  sport  of  chance  and  time, 
Varies  no  less  in  aspect  than  in  clime  ; 


130 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


Mark  well  the  difference,  and  let  each  be  seen 
Of  various  age,  complexion,  hair,  and  mien. 

Yet  to  each  separate  form  adapt  with  care 
Such  limbs,  such  robes,  such  attitude  and  air. 
As  best  befit  the  head,  and  best  combine 
To  make  one  whole,  one  uniform  design  : 

Learn  action  from  the  dumb ;  the  dumb  shall  teach 
How  happiest  to  supply  the  want  of  speech. 

Fair  in  the  front,  in  all  the  blaze  of  light. 
The  Hero  of  thy  piece  shall  meet  the  sight, 
Supreme  in  beauty ;  lavish  here  thine  art. 
And  bid  him  boldly  from  the  canvas  start : 

While  round  that  sovereign  form  th'  inferior  train 
In  groups  collected  fill  the  picturM  plain ; 
Fill,  but  not  crowd  ;  for  oft  some  open  space 
Must  part  their  ranks,  and  leave  a  vacant  place. 
Lest  artlessly  dispers'd  the  sever'd  crew 
At  random  rush  on  our  bewilder'd  view ; 
Or  parts  with  parts,  in  thick  confusion  bound, 
Spread  a  tumultuous  chaos  o'er  the  ground. 

In  every  figured  group  the  judging  eye 
Demands  the  charms  of  contrariety ; 
In  forms,  in  attitudes,  expects  to  trace 
Distinct  inflections,  and  contrasted  grace. 
Where  art  diversely  leads  each  changeful  line. 
Opposes,  breaks,  divides  the  whole  design : 
Tiius,  when  the  rest  in  front  their  charms  display 
Let  one  with  face  averted  turn  away ; 
Shoulders  oppose  to  breasts,  and  left  to  right, 
With  parts  that  meet  and  parts  that  shun  the  sight. 
This  rule  in  practice  uniformly  true 
Extends  alike  to  many  forms  or  few. 

Yet  keep  thro'  all  the  piece  a  perfect  poise : 

If  here  in  frequent  troops  the  figures  rise. 

There  let  some  object  tower  with  equal  pride  ; 

And  so  arrange  each  correspondent  side. 

That,  thro'  the  well-connected  plan,  appear 

No  cold  vacuity,  no  desert  drea". 

******* 

The  joints  in  each  extreme  distinctly  treat, 
Nor  e'er  conceal  the  outline  of  the  feet : 

The  hands  alike  demand  to  be  exprest 
In  half-shown  figures  rang'd  behind  the  rest ; 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


131 


Nor  can  such  forms  with  force  or  beauty  shine, 
Save  when  the  head  and  hands  in  action  join. 

Each  air  constraint  and  forc'd,  each  gesture  rude, 
Whate'er  contracts  or  cramps  the  attitude, 
With  scorn  discard.    When  squares  or  angles  join, 
When  flows  in  tedious  parallel  the  line, 
Acute,  obtuse,  whene'er  the  shapes  appear, 
Or  take  a  formal  geometric  air, 
These  all  displease,  and  the  disgusted  eye 
Nauseates  the  tame  and  irksome  symmetry. 
Mark  then  our  former  rule  ;  with  contrast  strong 
And  mode  transverse  the  leading  lines  prolong; 
For  these  in  each  design,  if  well  exprest. 
Give  value,  force,  and  lustre  to  the  rest. 

Nor  yet  to  Nature  such  strict  homage  pay, 
As  not  to  quit  when  Genius  leads  the  way ; 
Nor  yet,  tho'  Genius  all  his  succour  sends. 
Her  mimic  powers  tho'  ready  memory  lends, 
Presume  from  Nature  wholly  to  depart. 
For  Nature  is  the  arbitress  of  art. 
In  Error's  grove  ten  thousand  thickets  spread. 
Ten  thousand  devious  paths  our  steps  mislead  ; 
'Mid  curves,  that  vary  in  perpetual  twine. 
Truth  owns  but  one  direct  and  perfect  line. 

Spread  then  her  genuine  charms  o'er  all  the  piece, 
Sublime  and  perfect  as  they  glow'd  in  Greece. 
Those  genuine  charms  to  seize,  with  zeal  explore 
The  vases,  medals,  statues,  form'd  of  yore. 
Relievos  high  that  swell  the  column's  stem. 
Speak  from  the  marble,  sparkle  from  the  gem  : 
Hence  all-majestic  on  th'  expanding  soul. 
In  copious  tide  the  bright  ideas  roll ; 
Fill  it  with  radiant  forms  unknown  before. 
Forms  such  as  demigods  and  heroes  wore  : 
Here  pause  and  pity  our  enervate  days. 
Hopeless  to  rival  their  transcendent  praise. 

Peculiar  toil  on  single  forms  bestow. 
There  let  expression  lend  its  finished  glow ; 
There  each  variety  of  tint  unite 
With  the  full  harmony  of  shade  and  light. 

Free  o'er  the  limbs  the  flowing  vesture  cast, 
The  light  broad  folds  with  grace  majestic  placed ; 
And  as  each  figure  turns  a  different  way, 


132 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


Give  the  large  plaits  their  corresponding-  play; 

Yet  devious  oft  and  swelling*  from  the  part, 
The  flowing-  robe  with  ease  should  seem  to  start 
Not  on  the  form  in  stiff  adhesion  laid, 
But  well  reliev'd  by  gentle  light  and  shade. 

Where'er  a  flat  vacuity  is  seen, 
There  let  some  shadowy  bending  intervene, 
Above,  below,  to  lead  its  varied  line, 
As  best  may  teach  the  distant  folds  to  join ; 
And  as  the  limbs  by  few  bold  strokes  exprest 
Excel  in  beauty,  so  the  liberal  vest 
In  large,  distinct,  unwrinkled  folds  should  fly; 
Beauty's  best  handmaid  is  Simplicity. 

To  difl''rent  ranks  adapt  their  proper  robe  ; 
With  ample  pall  let  monarchs  sweep  the  globe; 
In  garb  succinct  and  coarse  array  the  swain  ; 
In  light  and  silken  veils  the  virgin  train. 

Where  in  black  shade  the  deeper  hollow  lies. 
Assisting  art  some  midway  fold  supplies, 
That  gently  meets  the  light,  and  gently  spreads 
To  break  the  hardness  of  opposing  shades. 

Each  nobler  symbol  classic  Sages  use, 
To  mark  a  virtue,  or  adorn  a  Muse, 
Ensigns  of  war,  of  peace,  or  rites  divine. 
These  in  thy  work  with  dignity  may  shine : 
But  sparingly  thy  earth-born  stores  unfold, 
Nor  load  with  gems,  nor  lace  with  tawdry  gold ; 
Rare  things  alone  are  dear  in  custom's  eye, 
They  lose  their  value  as  they  multiply. 

Of  absent  forms  the  features  to  define, 
Prepare  a  model  to  direct  thy  line  ; 
Each  garb,  each  custom,  with  precision  trace, 
Unite  m  strict  decorum  time  with  place ; 
And  emulous  alone  of  genuine  fame? 
Be  Grace,  be  Majesty  thy  constant  aim. 
That  Majesty,  that  Grace  so  rarely  given 
To  mortal  man,  nor  taught  by  art  but  Heaven. 

In  all  to  sage  propriety  attend. 
Nor  sink  the  clouds,  nor  bid  the  waves  ascend ; 
Lift  not  the  mansions  drear  of  Hell  or  Night 
Above  the  Thunderer's  lofty  arch  of  light; 
Nor  build  the  column  on  an  osier  base ; 
But  let  each  object  know  its  native  place. 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


133 


Thy  last,  thy  noblest  task  remains  untold, 
Passion  to  paint,  and  sentiment  unfold ; 
Yet  how  these  motions  of  the  mind  display  ! 
Can  colours  catch  them,  or  can  lines  portray  1 
Who  shall  our  pigmy  pencils  arm  with  might 
To  seize  the  Soul,  and  force  her  into  sight! 
Jove,  Jove  alone ;  his  highly-favour'd  few 
Alone  can  call  such  miracles  to  view. 

But  this  to  rhet'ric  and  the  schools  I  leave, 
Content  from  ancient  lore  one  rule  to  give : 
"  By  tedious  toil  no  passions  are  exprest, 
"  His  hand  who  feels  them  strongest  paints  them  best." 

^  %  ^  %  jfi  ?fc  5fj 

Return  fair  Colouring  !  all  thy  lures  prepare, 
Each  safe  deception,  every  honest  snare. 
Which  brings  new  lovers  to  thy  sister's  train, 
Skilful  at  once  to  charm,  and  to  retain ; 
Come,  faithful  Siren  !  chaste  seducer '.  say. 
What  laws  control  thee,  and  what  powers  obey  1 

Know  first,  that  light  displays  and  shade  destroys 
Refulgent  Nature's  variegated  dyes. 

Thus  bodies  near  the  light  distinctly  shine 
With  rays  direct,  and  as  it  fades  decline. 

Thus  to  the  eye  oppos'd  with  stronger  light 
They  meet  its  orb,  for  distance  dims  the  sight. 

Learn  hence  to  paint  the  parts  that  meet  the  view 
In  spheric  forms,  of  bright  and  equal  hue  ; 
While,  from  the  light  receding  or  the  eye. 
The  sinking  outlines  take  a  fainter  dye. 
Lost  and  confus'd  progressively  they  fade, 
Not  fall  precipitate  from  light  to  shade. 
This  Nature  dictates,  and  this  Taste  pursues, 
Studious  in  gradual  gloom  her  lights  to  lose ; 
The  various  whole  with  soft'ning  tints  to  fill, 
As  if  one  single  head  employ 'd  her  skill. 
Thus  if  bold  fancy  plan  some  proud  design, 
Where  many  various  groups  divide  or  join, 
(Tho'  sure  from  more  than  there  confusion  springs,) 
One  globe  of  light  and  shade  o'er  all  she  flings ; 
Yet  skill'd  the  separate  masses  to  dispose, 
Where'er,  in  front,  the  fuller  radiance  glows. 
Behind,  a  calm  reposing  gloom  she  spreads. 
Relieving  shades  with  light,  and  light  with  shades. 
12 


134 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


And  as  the  centre  of  some  convex  glass, 

Draws  to  a  point  the  congregated  mass 

Of  dazzUng  rays,  that,  more  than  nature  bright, 

Reflect  each  image  in  an  orb  of  light. 

While  from  that  point  the  scatter'd  beams  retire, 

Sink  to  the  verge,  and  there  in  shade  expire  ; 

So  strongly  near,  so  softly  distant  throw 

On  all  thy  rounded  groups  the  circling  glow. 

As  is  the  Sculptor's,  such  the  Painter's  aim, 
Their  labour  different,  but  their  end  the  same ; 
What  from  the  marble  the  rude  chisel  breaks, 
The  softer  pencil  from  the  canvas  takes  : 
And,  skiird  remoter  distances  to  keep, 
Surrounds  the  outline  pale  in  shadows  deep; 
While  on  the  front  the  sparkling  lustre  plays, 
And  meets  the  eye  in  full  meridian  blaze. 
True  Colouring  thus  in  plastic  power  excels. 
Fair  to  the  visual  point  her  forms  she  swells, 
And  lifts  them  from  their  flat  aerial  ground 
Warm  as  the  life,  and  as  the  statue  round. 

In  silver  clouds  in  ether's  blue  domain, 
Or  the  clear  mirror  of  the  watry  plain. 
If  chance  some  solid  substance  claim  a  place. 
Firm  and  opaque  amid  the  lucid  space. 
Rough  let  it  swell  and  boldly  meet  the  sight, 
Mark'd  with  peculiar  strength  of  shade  and  light ; 
There  blend  each  earthly  tint  of  heaviest  sort, 
At  once  to  give  consistence  and  support. 
While  the  bright  wave,  soft  cloud,  or  azure  sky, 
Light  and  pellucid  from  that  substance  fly. 

Permit  not  two  conspicuous  lights  to  shine 
With  rival  radiance  in  the  same  design ; 
But  yield  to  one  alone  the  power  to  blaze 
And  spread  th'  extensive  vigour  of  its  rays. 
There  where  the  noblest  figures  are  display'd ; 
Thence  gild  the  distant  parts,  and  lessening  fade: 
As  fade  the  beams  which  Phcebus  from  the  East 
Flings  vivid  forth  to  light  the  distant  West, 
Gradual  those  vivid  beams  forget  to  shine. 
So  gradual  let  thy  pictur'd  lights  decline. 

The  sculptor'd  forms  which  some  proud  Circus  grace, 
In  Parian  marble  or  Corinthian  brass, 
Illurnin'd  thus,  give  to  the  gazing  eye 


THE  AKT  OF  PAINTING. 


135 


Th'  expressive  head  in  radiant  Majesty, 
While  to  each  lower  limb  the  fainter  ray- 
Lends  only  light  to  mark,  but  not  display : 
So  let  thy  pencil  fling  its  beams  around, 
Nor  e'er  with  darker  shades  their  force  confound. 
For  shades  too  dark  dissever'd  shapes  will  give, 
And  sink  the  parts  their  softness  would  relieve  ; 
Then  only  well  reliev'd,  when  like  a  veil 
Round  the  full  lights  the  wand'ring  shadows  steal ; 
Then  only  justly  spread,  when  to  the  sight 
A  breadth  of  shade  pursues  a  breadth  of  light. 
This  charm  to  give,  great  Titian  wisely  made 
The  clustered  grapes  his  rule  of  light  and  shade. 

White,  when  it  shines  with  unstain'd  lustre  clear, 
May  bear  an  object  back,  or  bring  it  near ; 
Aided  by  black  it  to  the  front  aspires, 
That  aid  withdrawn  it  distantly  retires ; 
But  black  unmix'd,  of  darkest  midnight  hue, 
Still  calls  each  object  nearer  to  the  view. 

Whatever  we  spy  thro'  colour'd  light  or  air, 
A  stain  congenial  on  their  surface  bear. 
While  neighb'ring  forms  by  joint  reflection  give 
And  mutual  take  the  dyes  that  they  receive. 
But  where  on  both  alike  one  equal  light 
Difl*usive  spreads,  the  blending  tints  unite. 
For  breaking  colours  thus  (the  ancient  phrase 
By  Artists  used)  fair  Venice  claims  our  praise : 
She,  cautious  to  transgress  so  sage  a  rule, 
Confin'd  to  soberest  tints  her  learned  school ; 
For  tho'  she  lov'd  by  varied  mode  to  join 
Tumultuous  crowds  in  one  immense  design. 
Yet  there  we  ne'er  condemn  such  hostile  hues 
As  cut  the  parts  or  glaringly  confuse ; 
In  tinsel  trim  no  foppish  form  is  drest. 
Still  flows  in  graceful  unity  the  vest; 
And  o'er  that  vest  a  kindred  mantle  spreads. 
Unvaried  but  by  power  of  lights  and  shades. 
Which  mildly  mixing,  every  social  dye 
Unites  the  whole  in  loveliest  harmony. 

When  small  the  space,  or  pure  the  ambient  air 
Each  form  is  seen  in  bright  precision  clear ; 
But  if  thick  clouds  that  purity  deface. 
If  far  extend  tliat  intervening  space, 


136 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


There  all  confus'd  the  objects  faintly  rise, 
As  if  prepar'd  to  vanish  from  our  eyes. 

Give  them  each  foremost  part  a  touch  so  bright, 
That,  o'er  the  rest,  its  domineering  light 
May  much  prevail ;  yet,  relative  in  all. 
Let  greater  parts  advance  before  the  small. 

Minuter  forms,  when  distantly  we  trace, 
Are  mingled  all  in  one  compacted  mass ; 
Such  the  light  leaves  that  clothe  remoter  woods, 
And  such  the  waves  on  wide-extended  floods. 

Let  each  contiguous  part  be  firm  allied, 
Nor  labour  less  the  separate  to  divide  ; 
Yet  so  divide  that  to  th'  approving  eye 
They  both  at  small  and  pleasing  distance  lie. 

Forbid  too  hostile  colours  close  to  meet, 
And  win  with  middle  tints  their  union  sweet ; 
Yet  varying  all  thy  tones,  let  some  aspire 
Fiercely  in  front,  some  tenderly  retire. 

Vain  is  the  hope  by  colouring  to  display 
The  bright  effulgence  of  the  noon-tide  ray. 
Or  paint  the  full-orb'd  Ruler  of  the  skies 
With  pencils  dipp'd  in  dull  terrestrial  dyes : 
But  when  mild  Evening  sheds  her  golden  light ; 
When  Morn  appears  array'd  in  modest  white  ; 
When  soft  suffusion  of  the  vernal  shower 
Dims  the  pale  sun ;  or,  at  the  thund'ring  hour. 
When,  wrapt  in  crimson  clouds,  he  hides  his  head, 
Then  catch  the  glow  and  on  the  canvas  spread. 

Bodies  of  polish'd  or  transparent  tone. 
Of  metal,  crystal,  iv'ry,  wood,  or  stone  ; 
And  all  whose  rough  unequal  parts  are  rear'd 
The  shaggy  fleece,  thick  fur,  or  bristly  beard  ; 
The  liquid  too ;  the  sadly  melting  eye. 
The  well-comb'd  locks  that  wave  with  glossy  dye ; 
Plumage  and  silks ;  a  floating  form  that  take, 
Fair  Nature's  mirror,  the  extended  lake ; 
With  what  immers'd  thro'  its  calm  medium  shines 
By  reflex  light,  or  to  its  surface  joins  ; 
These  first  with  thin  and  even  shades  portray. 
Then,  on  their  flatness  strike  th'  enlivening  ray. 
Bright  and  disiinct, — and  last,  with  strict  review. 
Restore  to  every  form  its  outline  true. 

By  mellowing  skill  thy  ground  at  distance  cast, 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTIJSG. 


1 


Free  as  the  air,  and  transient  as  its  blast ; 
There  all  thy  liquid  colours  sweetly  blend, 
There  all  the  treasures  of  thy  palette  spend, 
And  every  form  retiring  to  that  ground 
Of  hue  congenial  to  itself  compound. 

The  hand  that  colours  well,  must  colour  bright ; 
Hope  not  that  praise  to  gain  by  sickly  white  ; 
But  amply  heap  in  front  each  splendid  dye, 
Then  thin  and  light  withdraw  them  from  the  eye,  \ 
Mix'd  with  that  simple  unity  of  shade, 
As  all  were  from  one  single  palette  spread. 
Much  will  the  mirror  teach,  or  evening  gray. 
When  o'er  some  ample  space  her  twilight  ray 
Obscurely  gleams  ;  hence  art  shall  best  perceive 
On  distant  parts  what  fainter  hues  to  give. 

Whatever  the  form  which  our  first  glance  commands, 
Whether  in  front  or  in  profile  he  stands, 
Whether  he  rule  the  group,  or  singly  reign, 
Or  shine  at  distance  on  some  ample  plain, 
On  that  high-finishM  form  let  Paint  bestow 
Her  midnight  shadow,  her  meridian  glow. 

The  portrait  claims  from  imitative  art 
Resemblance  close  in  each  minuter  part. 
And  this  to  give,  the  ready  hand  and  eye 
With  playful  skill  the  kindred  features  ply; 
From  part  to  part  alternately  convey 
The  harmonizing  gloom,  the  darting  ray. 
With  tones  so  just,  in  such  gradation  thrown, 
Adopting  Nature  owns  the  work  her  own. 

Say,  is  the  piece  thy  hand  prepares  to  trace 
Ordain'd  for  nearer  sight,  or  narrow  space  1 
Paint  it  of  soft  and  amicable  hue : 
But,  if  predestin'd  to  remoter  view. 
Thy  strong  unequal  varied  colours  blend ; 
And  ample  space  to  ample  figures  lend. 
Where  to  broad  lights  the  circumambient  shade 
In  liquid  play  by  labour  just  is  laid  ; 
Alike  with  liveliest  touch  the  forms  portray. 
Where  the  dim  window  half  excludes  the  day ; 
But,  when  expos'd  in  fuller  light  or  air, 
A  brown  and  sober  cast  the  group  may  bear. 

Fly  every  foe  to  elegance  and  grace. 
Each  yawning  hollow,  each  divided  space  ; 

12* 


138 


THE  ART  OP  PAINTING. 


Whate'er  is  trite,  minute,  abrupt,  or  dry, 
Where  light  meets  shade  in  flat  equality ; 
Each  theme  fantastic,  filthy,  vile,  or  vain, 
That  gives  the  soul  disgust,  or  senses  pain ; 
Monsters  of  barbarous  birth.  Chimeras  drear, 
That  pall  with  ugliness,  or  awe  with  fear. 
And  all  that  chaos  of  sharp  broken  parts, 
Where  reigns  confusion,  or  whence  discord  starts. 

Yet  hear  me,  youths !  while  zealous  ye  forsake 
Detected  faults,  this  friendly  caution  take, — 
Shun  all  excess ;  and  with  true  wisdom  deem, 
That  vice  alike  resides  in  each  extreme. 

Know,  if  supreme  perfection  be  your  aim, 
If  classic  praise  your  pencil  hope  to  claim, 
Your  noble  outlines  must  be  chaste,  yet  free, 
Connected  all  with  studied  harmony ; 
Few  in  their  parts,  yet  those  distinct  and  great ; 
Your  Colouring  boldly  strong,  yet  softly  sweet. 

Know,  he  that  well  begins  has  half  achiev'd 
His  destin'd  work.    Yet  late  shall  be  retrieved 
That  time  mispent,  that  labour  worse  than  lost, 
The  young  disciple,  to  his  dearest  cost. 
Gives  to  a  dull  preceptor's  tame  designs; 
His  tawdry  colours,  his  erroneous  lines. 
Will  to  the  soul  that  poison  rank  convey. 
Which  life's  best  length  shall  fail  to  purge  away. 

Yet  let  not  your  untutor'd  childhood  strive 
Of  Nature's  living  charms  the  sketch  to  give, 
Till,  skill'd  her  separate  features  to  design, 
You  know  each  muscle's  site,  and  how  they  join. 
These  while  beneath  some  master's  eye  you  trace, 
Vers'd  in  the  law  of  symmetry  and  grace. 
Boldly  proceed :  his  precepts  shall  impart 
Each  sweet  deception  of  the  pleasing  art : 
Still  more  than  precept  shall  his  practice  teach. 
And  add  what  self-reflection  ne'er  can  reach. 

Oft,  when  alone,  the  studious  hour  employ 
On  what  may  aid  your  art,  and  what  destroy : 
Diversity  of  parts  is  sure  to  please. 
If  all  the  various  parts  unite  with  ease ; 
As  surely  charms  that  voluntary  style. 
Which  careless  plays,  and  seems  to  mock  at  toil : 
For  labour'd  lines  with  cold  exactness  tire, 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


139 


'Tis  freedom  only  gives  the  force  and  fire 
Ethereal ;  she,  with  alchymy  divine, 
Brightens  each  touch,  ennobles  every  line ; 
Yet  pains  and  practice  only  can  bestow 
This  facile  power  of  hand,  whose  liberal  flow 
With  grateful  fraud  its  own  exertions  veils : 
He  best  employs  his  art  who  best  conceals. 

This  to  obtain,  let  taste  with  judgment  join'd 
The  future  whole  infix  upon  thy  mind ; 
Be  there  each  line  in  truth  ideal  drawn, 
Or  ere  a  colour  on  the  canvas  dawn  ; 
Then  as  the  work  proceeds,  that  work  submit 
To  sight  instinctive,  not  to  doubting  wit ; 
The  eye  each  obvious  error  swift  descries. 
Hold  then  the  compass  only  in  the  eyes. 

Give  to  the  dictates  of  the  learn'd  respect. 
Nor  proudly  untaught  sentiments  reject. 
Severe  to  self  alone :  for  self  is  blind. 
And  deems  each  merit  in  its  offspring  join'd  : 
Such  fond  delusion  time  can  best  remove. 
Concealing  for  a  while  the  child  we  love  ; 
By  absence  then  the  eye  impartial  grown. 
Will,  tho'  no  friend  assist,  each  error  own  ; 
But  these  subdued,  let  thy  determined  mind 
Veer  not  with  every  critic's  veering  wind. 
Or  e'er  submit  thy  genius  to  the  rules 
Of  prating  fops,  or  self-important  fools ; 
Enough  if  from  the  learn'd  applause  be  won  : 
Who  doat  on  random  praises,  merit  none. 

By  Nature's  sympathetic  power,  we  see. 
As  is  the  parent,  such  the  progeny : 
Ev'n  Artists,  bound  by  their  instinctive  law, 
In  all  their  works  their  own  resemblance  draw : 
Learn  then  "  to  know  thyself ;"  that  precept  sage 
Shall  best  allay  luxuriant  Fancy's  rage ; 
Shall  point  how  far  indulgent  Genius  deigns 
To  aid  her  flight,  and  to  what  point  restrains. 
But  as  the  blushing  fruits,  the  breathing  flowers. 
Adorning  Flora's  and  Pomona's  bowers, 
When  forcing  fires  command  their  buds  to  swell, 
Refuse  their  dulcet  taste,  their  balmy  smell ; 
So  labour's  vain  extortion  ne'er  achieves 
That  grace  supreme  which  willing  Genius  gives. 


140 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTIJNG. 


Thus  tho'  to  pains  and  practice  much  we  owe, 
Tho'  thence  each  line  obtains  its  easy  flow, 
Yet  let  those  pains,  that  practice,  ne'er  be  join'd, 
To  blunt  the  native  vigor  of  the  mind. 

When  shines  the  morn,  when  in  recruited  course 
The  spirits  flow,  devote  their  active  force 
To  every  nicer  part  of  thy  design, 
But  pass  no  idle  day  without  a  line : 
And  wandering  oft  the  crowded  streets  along. 
The  native  gestures  of  the  passing  throng 
Attentive  mark ;  for  many  a  casual  grace, 
Th'  expressive  lines  of  each  impassion'd  face 
That  bears  its  joys  or  sorrows  undisguis'd. 
May  by  observant  taste  be  there  surpris'd. 
Thus,  true  to  art,  and  zealous  to  excel. 
Ponder  on  Nature's  powers,  and  weigh  them  well ; 
Explore  thro'  earth  and  heaven,  thro'  sea  and  skies, 
The  accidental  graces  as  they  rise ; 
And  while  each  present  form  the  Fancy  warms. 
Swift  on  thy  tablets  fix  its  fleeting  charms. 

******* 

For  paltry  gold  let  pining  Misers  sigh, 

His  soul  invokes  a  nobler  Deity  ; 

Smit  with  the  glorious  avarice  of  fame. 

He  claims  no  less  than  an  immortal  name; 

Hence  on  his  fancy  just  conception  shines. 

True  judgment  guides  his  hand,  true  taste  refines  ; 

Hence  ceaseless  toil,  devotion  to  his  art, 

A  docile  temper,  and  a  generous  heart ; 

Docile,  his  sage  preceptor  to  obey. 

Generous,  his  aid  with  gratitude  to  pay ; 

Blest  with  the  bloom  of  youth,  the  nerves  of  health, 

And  competence,  a  better  boon  than  wealth. 

Great  blessings  these !  yet  will  not  these  empower 
His  tints  to  charm  at  every  labouring  hour  : 
All  have  their  brilliant  moments,  when  alone 
They  paint  as  if  some  star  propitious  shone. 
Yet  then,  e'en  then,  the  hand  but  ill  conveys 
The  bolder  grace  that  in  the  fancy  plays: 
Hence,  candid  Critics,  this  sad  truth  cunfest. 
Accept  what  least  is  bad,  and  deem  it  best ; 
Lament  the  soul  in  error's  thraldom  held, 
Compare  life's  span  with  art's  extensive  field  ; 


THE  ART  OF  PAINTING. 


141 


Know  that,  ere  perfect  taste  matures  the  mind, 
Or  perfect  practice  to  that  taste  be  join'd, 
Comes  age,  comes  sickness,  comes  contracting  pain. 
And  chills  the  warmth  of  youth  in  every  vein. 

Rise  then,  ye  youths,  while  yet  that  warmth  inspires, 
While  yet  nor  years  impair,  nor  labour  tires, 
While  health,  while  strength  are  yours,  while  that  mild  ray 
Which  shone  auspicious  on  your  natal  day, 
Conducts  you  to  Minerva's  peaceful  quire, — 
Sons  of  her  choice,  and  sharers  of  her  fire, 
Rise  at  the  call  of  art :  expand  your  breast, 
Capacious  to  receive  the  mighty  guest. 
While,  free  from  prejudice,  your  active  eye 
Preserves  its  first  unsullied  purity ; 
While  new  to  beauty's  charms,  your  eager  soul 
Drinks  copious  draughts  of  the  delicious  whole. 
And  Memory  on  her  soft,  yet  lasting  page. 
Stamps  the  fresh  image  which  shall  charm  thro'  age. 

*  if:  *  *  *  *  * 

Yet  more  than  these  to  Meditation's  eyes 
Great  Nature's  self  redundantly  supplies  : 
Her  presence,  best  of  Models  !  is  the  source 
Whence  Genius  draws  augmented  power  and  force ; 
Her  precepts,  best  of  teachers !  give  the  powers, 
Whence  art,  by  practice  to  perfection  soars. 


INDEX. 


PAGK 

The  Theory  of  Effect,  ....  7 

Contrast  of  Forms,  .  .  .  .  10 

Contrast  of  Light  and  Shade,     .  .  .15 

Contrast  of  Colour,  .  .  .  .  19 

Contrast  of  Greys,       .  .  •  .21 

Harmony,  .....  23 

Effect,  ......  25 

Water  and  its  Reflections,    ...  29 
Colour,  .  .  .  .  .42 

Extract  from  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  Discourses 

on  Art,  .  .  .  .  .47 

Copying,     .....  48 

Style,    ......  51 

Detail  and  Minute  Finish,    ...  55 
Invention  and  Design,    .  .  .  .71 

Anatomical  Proportions  of  the  Human  Figure,  87 
Perspective,      .  .  .  .  .89 

Composition,  .  .  .  •  90 

Genius,  .  .  .  .  .91 


144 


INDEX. 


PAGK 

Single  Figures,       .  .          .          .  92 

Parts  of  a  Picture,        .  .          ,  .94 

The  Passions,         ,  .          .          .  94 

Glazing  or  Scrumbling,  .  .           .          .  95 

Multiplicity  of  Lights,  ...  98 

Light  and  Shade,          .  .          .  .98 

Harmony,   .          .  .           .    .      .  101 

Backgrounds,    .          .  ,          .  .102 

The  Modes  of  Harnnony,  .           .          .  104 

Dark  Shadows,             .  .          .          .  108 

Taste,        .          .  .          .  .109 

Form,             .          .  .          .  .109 

Invention,             ./  .          .          .  110 

Sketching,         .          .  .          .  .111 

Symmetry  in  Grouping,  .           .          .  112 

Finish,              .           .  .           .  .114 

The  opinion  of  Others,  .          .          .  115 

Practice,     -      .          .  .          .  .116 

Prejudice,              .  •          .          .  117 

Nature,             .          .  .          .  .121 

The  Art  of  Painting,  .          .          .  127 


J.  W.  MOORE, 
FOIISIEE.  SOIESELIES  Si  irOBTEB, 

193  CHESTNUT  ST.,  OPPOSITE  THE  STATE  HOUSE, 
PHILADELPHIA, 

Continues  to  import  from  England,  France,  and  Germany,  both 
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attention  to  procuring  rare  and  valuable  works.  Books  im- 
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fifty  or  sixty  days. 

Books  for  Libraries  and  Public  Institutions  imported  free  of 
duty. 


PLAIN  AND  FANCY  STATIONERY. 

Just  received  from  Paris,  a  large  and  well  selected  assort- 
ment of  LETTER  AND  NOTE  PAPER,  with  Plain  or  Orna- 
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(IT*  A  very  large  and  well  selected  stock  of  English  and 
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the  attention  of  buyers  is  requested ;  the  prices  being  such  as 
cannot  fail  to  give  satisfaction. 

Country  Merchants  supplied  on  the  most  liberal  terms. 


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of  the  countries  represented  are  imitated  by  corresponding  ele- 
vations on  the  Maps,  thus  showing  at  a  glance,  the  comparative 
heights  of  mountains,  &.C.,  &c. 

Also,  Raised  Plans  of  the  Cities  of  Paris,  London,  Mexico, 
and  Hamburg. 


LONDON  AND  OXFORD  EDITIONS. 

J.  W.  MOORE  would  respectfully  call  the  attention  of  the 
public  to  his  well  selected  stock  of  Bibles,  increased  by  recent 
importations,  and  comprising  the  best  varieties  published,  bound 
in  the  most  superior  manner  by  Hayday  and  other  celebrated 
binders,  and  printed  on  the  finest  linen  paper.  He  is  confident 
that  in  point  of  typographical  execution,  binding,  &c.,  they  will 
be  found  superior  to  anything  ever  before  offered  in  this  city. 


BIBLES. 

AMERICAN  EDITIONS. 

A  great  variety  of  American  Editions  of  the  Bible,  bound  in 
Morocco,  and  elegant  Beveled  Boards,  from  50  cents  to  $20. 

PRAYER  BOOKS. 

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both  English  and  American,  has  just  been  received,  beautifully 
bound  in  Turkey  Morocco,  Beveled  Boards,  Rich  Silk  Velvet, 
with  or  without  clasps ;  also,  in  gelatine,  a  new  and  most  beau- 
tiful style.  The  above  are  of  all  sizes,  and  at  prices  which 
cannot  fail  to  give  satisfaction. 


A  CATALOGUE 

OP 

VALUABLE  AND  IMPORTANT  WORKS, 

PUBLISHED  AND  FOR  SALE  BY 

J.  W.  MOORE, 
BOOKSELLER,  PUBLISHER,  AND  IMPORTER, 
193  CHESTNUT  STREET,  OPPOSITE  THE  STATE-HOUSE. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


THE  WORKS  OF  MICHAEL  DE  MONTAIGNE,  comprising 
his  Essays,  Letters,  a  Journey  through  Germany  and  Italy ; 
with  notes  from  all  the  Commentators,  Biographical  and 
Bibliographical  Notices,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  By  William  Hazlitt. 
1  vol.  8vo.,  pp.  686,  cloth,  $2  50 ;  half  calf  and  half  morocco, 
$3  50. 

*'  This  is  a  truly  valuable  publication,  and  embodies  much  that  may  be 
read  with  profit." — hiquirer. 

"  This  work  is  too  well  known,  and  too  highly  appreciated  by  the  Hterary 
world,  to  require  eulogy. — North  American. 

So  long  as  an  unaffected  style  and  good  nature  shall  charm — so  long  as 
the  lovers  of  desultory  and  cheerful  conversation  shall  be  more  numerous 
than  those  who  prefer  a  lecture  or  a  sermon  —  so  long  as  reading  is  sought 
by  the  many  as  an  amusement  in  idleness,  or  a  resource  in  pain  —  so  long 
will  Montaigne  be  among  the  favourite  authors  of  mankind." — Hallam. 

BURTON'S  ANATOMY  OP  MELANCHOLY.  What  it  is, 
with  all  the  kinds,  causes,  symptoms,  prognostics,  and  seve- 
ral cures  of  it.  In  three  partitions :  with  their  several  sec- 
tions,  members,  and  subsections,  philosophically,  medically, 
and  historically  opened  and  cut  up.  A  new  edition,  cor- 
rected and  enriched  by  translations  of  the  numerous  clas- 
ical  extracts.  To  which  is  prefixed  an  account  of  the 
author.  From  the  last  London  edition.  1  vol.  8vo.,  cloth, 
$2  50  ;  half  calf  and  half  morocco,  $3  50. 

"  The  book  is  an  inexhaustible  fountain,  where  every  mind,  no  matter 
what  may  be  its  peculiar  organization,  or  the  nature  of  its  momentary  needs, 
can  draw  at  will  nourishment  and  strength ;  such  perfect  mingling  of  im- 
mense erudition,  profound  thought,  sparkling  humour,  and  exuberant  fancy, 
exists  no  where  else  out  of  Shakspeare,"  — CzVy  Item. 


2 


J.  w.  moore's  catalogue 


WEISS  ON  WATER  CURE.  The  Hand  Book  of  Hydro- 
pathy,  for  Professional  and  Domestic  use :  with  an  Appendix^ 
on  the  best  mode  of  forming  Hydropathic  establishments. 
Being  the  result  of  twelve  years'  experience  at  Grafenberg 
and  Freywaldau.    By  Dr.  J.  Weiss.    12mo.,  cloth,  $1  00. 

**  The  intention  of  the  author  in  this  work,  is  to  render  himself  intelli- 
gible to  the  non-professional  reader,  so  that  the  treatment  by  water  may  be 
safely  introduced  into  domestic  use,  and  exert  its  influence  where  medicaJ 
assistance  is  not  to  be  obtained." — Messenger, 

BIBLIA  HEBRAICA.  Secundum  Editiones.  Jos.  Athiae, 
Joannis  Leusden,  Jo.  Simonis  Aliorumque,  inprimis  Eve- 
rardi  Van  Der  Hooght,  D.  Henrici  Opitii,  et  Wolfii  Heiden- 
heim,  cum  additionibus  Clavique  Masoretica  et  Rabbinica, 
Augusti  Hahn.  Nunc  denuo  recognita  et  emendata  ab 
Isaaco  Leeser,  V.  D.  M.,  et  Josepho  Jaquett,  V.  D.  M.  The 
above  is  stereotyped  from  the  last  Leipsic  edition,  and  beau- 
tifully half  bound  in  the  German  style,  thick  8vo.,  price  re- 
duced to  $2  25. 

*'  Its  typography  is  beautiful,  and  it  is  justly  admired  by  Hebrew  scholars 
who  have  examined  it.  Its  superior  accuracy,  it  is  believed,  will  be  ac- 
knowledged, on  a  comparison  with  any  Bible  extant.  One  thing  which 
gives  elegance  and  excellence  to  the  work,  should  be  particularly  noticed 
by  all  who  desire  a  Bible  that  can  be  easily  read,  all  the  vowel  points  and 
accents  are  in  their  right  places,  which  cannot  be  said  of  all  former  editions 
— and  therefore  the  student  can  never  be  in  doubt  respecting  the  letters  to 
which  they  belong." — Christian  Observer. 


THE  FAMILY  SHAKSPEARE,  in  one  volume;  in  which 
nothing  is  added  to  the  original  text ;  but  those  v^^ords  and 
expressions  are  omitted  v^hich  cannot  with  propriety  be 
read  aloud  in  a  family.  By  Thomas  Bowdler,  Esq.  From 
the  sixth  London  edition,  royal  8vo.,  cloth,  $3. 

"  The  nature  and  object  of  this  work  are  too  well  known  to  require  ex- 
planation, and  many  a  family  will  feel  obliged  to  Mr.  Moore  for  furnishing 
an  edition  of  the  immortal  dramatist ;  garbled,  indeed,  because  expurgated — 
but  in  many  respects  less  garbled  than  some  of  the  separate  plays  as  pre- 
pared for  the  stage — which  can  be  recommended  to  parents  and  guardians, 
and  introduced  into  the  mixed  domestic  circle  without  hesitation  or  fear."- 
North  American. 


PARTNERS  FOR  LIFE:  A  Christmas  Story.  By  Camilla 
TouLMiN.  With  illustrations  by  John  Absolon.  12mo., 
cloth,  75  cents;  gilt,  $1  ;  paper  covers,  38  cents. 

"Another  Christmas  book  by  a  lady!  and  by  one  whose  short  tales  and 
graceful  and  tender  poetry  are  carrying  her  name  into  every  household,  and 
will  extend  her  influence,  both  abroad  and  home  ;  for  it  is  always  exercised 
for  good." — Art  Union. 

THE  FOREST  MINSTREL.  A  Collection  of  Original  Poems, 
by  Mrs.  Lydia  Jane  Pierson.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  B.  S, 
Schenck.    1  vol.  12mo.,  cloth,  75  cents;  fancy,  $1. 


OF  VALUABLE  BOOKS. 


3 


TRAVELS  OVER  THE  TABLE  LANDS  AND  CORDIL- 
LERAS OF  MEXICO;  with  observations  upon  the  Reli- 
gion, Political  Institutions,  Commerce,  Agriculture  and  Civil- 
ization  in  Mexico ;  embracing  accounts  of  the  manner  of 
mining  and  coining  silver  in  that  country.  With  an  Appen- 
dix, comprising  biographies  of  Emperor  Don  Augustin 
Iturbide  and  the  Ex-President  General  Don  Antonio  Lopez 
De  Santa  Anna.  By  Albert  M.  Gilliam,  late  U.  S.  Consul 
at  California,  Mexico.  With  Maps  and  Plates.  1  vol.  8vo., 
cloth,  $2. 

THE  MEMOIRS  OF  MRS.  ELIZABETH  FRY,  Edited  by 
two  of  her  daughters.  2  vols.  8vo.,  cloth,  with  portrait, 
$3  50 ;  half  morocco,  $5. 

The  record  of  the  life  and  experience  of  such  a  labourer  in  the  field  of 
genuine  philanthropy  and  benevolence,  is  an  invaluable  memoir,  and  will 
doubtless  be  so  regarded  by  the  Christian  community. 

"  If  the  w^ork  could  meet  with  a  circulation  equal  to  its  deserving,  it  would 
find  eager  welcome  in  every  family  in  Christendom.  It  affords  a  beautiful 
exemphfication  of  Christian  character.  Each  page  breathes  fervent  piety. 
Charity,  the  most  Godlike  of  virtues,  animates  every  word.  The  Memoir 
possesses  peculiar  value  from  the  fact  that  it  is  prepared  by  two  daughters 
of  the  deceased,  who  have  taken  great  care,  and  manifested  good  judgment 
in  their  labour  of  love." — City  Item. 

TAYLOR  (R.  C.)  STATISTICS  OF  COAL.  The  Geogra- 
phical  and  Geological  distribution  of  Mineral  Combustibles 
or  Fossil  Fuel,  including,  also.  Notices  and  Localities  of  the 
various  Mineral  Bituminous  Substances  employed  in  Arts  and 
Manufactures ;  with  maps,  elegantly  coloured,  and  diagrams ; 
embracing,  from  official  reports  of  the  great  coal-producing 
countries,  the  respective  amounts  of  their  production,  con- 
sumption, and  commercial  distribution  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  together  with  their  prices,  tariffs,  duties,  and  inter- 
national regulations.  Accompanied  by  nearly  four  hundred 
statistical  tables,  and  eleven  hundred  analyses  of  mineral 
combustibles,  with  incidental  statements  of  the  statistics  of 
Iron  manufactures,  derived  from  authentic  authorities.  Pre- 
pared by  Richard  Cowling  Taylor,  Fellow  of  the  Geological 
Society  of  London,  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  &c.  &.c.    Royal  8vo.,  cloth,  $5  00. 

*'  It  is  a  most  invaluable  work  —  a  monument  of  industrious  and  careful 
research — a  treasury — a  very  encyclopedia  of  coal,  extending  to  all  associated 
branches  of  information,  worthy  to  rank  with  the  most  complete  and  tho- 
rough economic  manuals  with  which  the  world  is  yet  acquainted.  There  is 
no  such  work,  in  fact,  on  the  subject  of  coal,  in  any  language ;  it  is  a  niine 
of  instruction,  and  a  whole  library  of  reference,  which  not  coal  and  iron 
miners  only,  but  statisticians  and  statesmen,  will  find  worthy  of  their  atten- 
tion."— North  American. 

It  is  indeed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  books  of  the  day;  exhibiting  a 
vast  amount  of  scientific  knowledge  and  statistical  information,  and  a  labo- 
rious patience  that  is  as  praiseworthy  as  it  is  rare." — Pittsburg  CommerciaL 


4 


J.  w.  moore's  catalogue 


MYSTERIES  OF  CITY  LIFE ;  or,  Stray  Leaves  from  the 
World's  Book.  Being  a  series  of  Tales,  Sketches,  Inci- 
dents, and  Sermons,  founded  upon  the  Notes  of  a  Home 
Missionary.  By  James  Rees,  author  of  "The  Philadelphia 
Locksmith,"  "  The  Night  Hawk  Papers,"  &,c.  12mo.,  paper, 
75  cents ;  cloth,  $1  00. 

**The  book  is  original  in  its  conception  and  execution;  its  details  carry 
such  evidence  of  reality  with  them,  that  the  reader  can  scarcely  take  them 
for  fiction,  and  we  much  doubt  if  they  are ;  at  the  same  time,  the  incidents 
are  often  so  startling,  and  so  vividly  and  painfully  represented  to  the  mind's 
eye,  that  we  could  wish  they  were  not  facts — or  rather,  we  could  wish  there 
were  no  such  facts  really  existing  in  the  darker  vistas  of  human  hfe.  The 
work  is  of  that  class  which  irresistibly  captivates  the  attention  ;  and  when 
the  reader  has  once  begun,  he  must  go  through  it,  impatient  of  all  interrup- 
tion. But  the  best  remains  to  be  said :  the  book  is  unexceptionably  moral, 
and  altogether  decorous.  This,  in  the  present  state  of  literature,  is  a  very 
rare  kind  of  excellence,  and  the  praise  it  calls  forth,  is  the  most  valuable 
tribute  that  an  author  can  receive." — Pennsylva7iian. 

MEMOIRS  OF  THE  PRETENDERS  AND  THEIR  ADHE- 
RENTS. By  J.  H.  Jesse.  (Moore's  Select  Library,  Nos.  1 
and  2.)    2  vols.  18mo.,  paper,  75  cents;  cloth,  $1  25. 


A  SUMMER'S  JAUNT  ACROSS  THE  WATER;  including 
Visits  to  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  France,  Switzerland, 
Germany,  Belgium,  &c.  By  J.  Jay  SivirrH.  (Moore's  Select 
Library,  Nos. '4  and  5.)  2  vols.  l8mo.,  paper,  $1  00;  cloth, 
$1  50. 

MY  OWN  HOME  AND  FIRESIDE;  being  Illustrations  of 
the  Speculations  of  Martin  Chuzzlewit  &  Co.,  among  the 
Wenom  of  the  Walley  of  Eden."    By  Syr.    Second  Edi- 
tion.   1  vol.  12mo.,  paper,  50  cents;  cloth,  75  cents. 

"  From  the  mere  glimpse  we  have  taken  of  this  book,  it  seems  a  strange, 
powerfully  written  work,  and  has  sufficiently  arrested  our  attention  to  lay  it 
aside  for  an  attentive  and  careful  perusal." — North  American. 

"  It  abounds  in  incident,  wit,  humour,  and  pathos,  and  will  be  remarkable 
among  the  many  works  now  issuing  from  the  press." — Inquirer. 

GRAY'S  ELEGY  WRITTEN  IN  A  COUNTRY  CHURCH- 
YARD. Embellished  with  thirty-three  spirited  Illustrations, 
by  R.  S.  Gilbert.  8vo.,  embossed  cloth,  gilt,  $1  50;  Turkey 
morocco,  $3  00;  coloured  plates,  embossed  cloth,  gilt,  $2  00; 
coloured  plates,  Turkey  morocco,  $3  75. 

It  is  got  up  with  a  degree  of  excellence  most  creditable  to  the  enterprise 
of  the  publisher,  and  which  the  celebrated  poem  well  deserves.  It  is  su- 
perbly printed,  on  the  very  best  paper,  and  each  leaf  contains  a  verse  of  the 
poem,  illustrated  by  a  wood-cut  in  the  highest  style  of  the  art,  engraved  by 
Gilbert,  from  designs  by  the  most  eminent  English  artists." — Pennsylvanian. 

**  The  poem  itself  is  one  of  the  most  elegant  English  compositions  now 
extant,  and  the  style  in  which  it  is  now  offered  to  its  admirers  is  highly 
creditable  to  the  artists  and  publisher." — Morning  Post, 


OF   VALUABLE  BOOKS. 


5 


SCENES  AND  ADVENTURES  IN  SPAIN,  from  1835  to 
1840.  By  Poco  Mas.  (Moore's  Select  Library,  No.  3.) 
1  vol.  18mo.,  paper,  38  cents ;  cloth,  63  cents. 

THE  PROSE  WORKS  OF  JOHN  MILTON,  with  a  Biogra- 
phical Introduction  by  R.  W.  Griswold.  2  vols.  8vo.,  cloth, 
$4  00.   

FIRST  LESSONS  IN  FRENCH,  by  Miss  Colman,  illustrated 
with  beautiful  engravings.  Square  16mo.,  embossed  mus- 
lin, 50  cents. 

CHILD'S  FIRST  PRAYER  BOOK.  With  ten  splendid 
Plates,  beautifully  printed  in  colours.  Second  Edition.  1 
vol.,  18mo.,  75  cents. 

**  It  is  by  far  the  most  attractive  book  of  the  kind  for  children  that  we 
have  seen.  Every  page  differs  in  the  style  of  printing  and  illustration. 
Different  coloured  inks,  gold,  &c.,  will  please  the  eye  of  the  young  and 
lead  them  to  look  to  the  substance  of  the  volume  through  its  agreeable 
illustrations." — North  American. 

CHILD'S  DRAWING  BOOK  OF  OBJECTS:  Studies  from 
Still  Life,  for  young  pupils  and  drawing  classes;  containing 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  objects.    4to.,  cloth,  $2  00. 

SMITH'S  JUVENILE  DRAWING  BOOK,  containing  the  ru- 
diments of  the  Art,  in  a  series  of  Progressive  Lessons,  24 
plates  of  subjects,  easily  copied.    Small  4to.,  cloth,  88  cents. 

HOUSEHOLD  VERSES.  By  Bernard  Barton.  Embellished 
with  a  Vignette  Title  Page  and  Frontispiece.  12mo.  Illu- 
minated covers,  new  edition,  50  cents ;  cloth,  gilt,  75  cents. 

*' A  very  pretty  edition  of  the  eighth,  and,  we  believe,  last  volume,  the 
death-gift  of  the  estimable  Quaker  Poet,  a  writer  always  a  favourite  with 
the  public,  *  from  whom,'  as  he  said  himself,  *  he  never  met  with  aught  but 
courtesy  and  kindness.'  " — North  American. 

'*  The  poems  of  so  sweet  a  minstrel,  should  have  a  place  in  every  well- 
selected  Library." — Inquirer. 

REMAINS  OF  WILLIAM  S.  GRAHAM;  With  a  Memoir. 
Edited  by  George  Allen,  Professor  of  Languages  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  1  vol.  I2mo.,  with  Portrait, 
boards,  75  cents ;  cloth,  gilt,  $1  00. 

**  This  is  a  most  attractive  book  in  outward  form,  and  the  interest  of  its 
contents,  in  our  esteem,  does  justice  to  its  external  appearance.  It  is  the 
fresh  wreath  which  love  and  friendship  have  intertwined  to  hang  over  the 
early  grave  of  genius.  It  is  not  the  mere  record  of  a  bright  and  sparkling 
mind,  whose  light  has  expired,  but  it  is  the  memorial  also  of  a  warm  heart, 
earnest  in  its  devotion  to  the  service  of  God  and  the  good  of  man." — Banner 
of  the  Cross. 


6  J.  w.  Moore's  catalogue 

BUNYAN'S  MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS.  1  vol.  12mo., 
cloth,  63  cents. 

AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  AND  LETTERS  OF  CAROLINE 
FRY,  the  author  of  "The  Listener,"  "Christ  our  Law,"  &c. 
12mo.,  cloth,  75  cents. 

*'  It  is  a  work  that  any  religious  parent  might  wish  to  place  in  the  hands 
of  his  daughters,  one  that  could  scarce  fail  to  leave  a  good  and  serious  im- 
pression on  the  mind  of  a  reader," — Pittsburg  Saturday  Visitor. 

"  This  work,  as  the  title  imports,  is  an  Autobiography  of  Mrs.  CaroHne 
Fry,  a  lady  distinguished  for  her  piety.  As  such  it  will  be  interesting  to  the 
Christian  world,  as  it  should  be  to  every  one." — Savannah  Daily  Eepublican. 


COMMERCE  OF  THE  PRAIRIES ;  or,  the  Journal  of  a 
Santa  Fe  Trader  during  Eight  Expeditions  across  the 
Western  Prairies,  and  a  Residence  of  nearly  nine  years  in 
Northern  Mexico.  By  Josiah  Gregg.  2  vols.  12mo.,  Maps 
and  Plates,  $1  50. 

"  The  volumes  are  illustrated  with  maps  and  engravings  and  are  full  of 
interest  and  information.  A  more  agreeable  or  readable  book  has  not  been 
issued  from  the  American  press  for  years.  The  way-side  incidents  are  quite 
exciting,  while  the  reflections  are  sensible  and  sound." — Inquirer. 

The  popularity  of  these  sketches  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the 
title  page  bears  the  imprint  of  the  fourth  edition.  It  is  very  unassuming  in 
style,  and  at  the  same  time  graphic,  exhibiting  a  phase  of  life  peculiar  to  the 
regions  it  has  undertaken  to  describe." — NeaVs  Gazette. 


WEEK  AT  GLENVILLE.  By  a  Philadelphia  lady.  With 
numerous  illustrations.  Cloth,  plain  plates,  50  cents ;  cloth, 
coloured  plates,  63  cents;  cloth,  gilt  edge,  plain  plates,  63 
cents ;  cloth,  gilt  edge,  coloured  plates,  75  cents. 

"This  little  work  will  be  a  favourite  with  children,  for  whose  especial 
benefit  it  was  written.  The  lady  authoress  has  succeeded  in  writing  a  book 
which  must  interest  the  youthful  mind,  and  instil  into  it  the  elements  of  pure 
morality." — Inquirer, 

CHRISTIANITY:  AND  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  POETRY 
AND  PHILOSOPHY.    12mo.,  cloth,  50  cents. 


COE'S  DRAWING- BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SCENERY. 
With  34  Views  from  Nature,  with  instructions  for  beginners 
in  Landscape.   4to.,  cloth,  $1  25. 

"This  is  an  excellent  work,  and  greatly  calculated  to  assist  young 
people." — Inquirer.   ^ 

FOWNE'S  PRIZE  ESSAY  ON  CHEMISTRY,  as  exempli- 
fying the  wisdom  and  beneficence  of  God.  12mo ,  cloth 
50  cents. 


OF  VALUABLE  BOOKS. 


7 


AGRICULTURAL  BOTANY;  an  enumeration  and  descrip- 
tion of  useful  Plants  and  Weeds,  which  merit  the  notice, 
or  require  the  attention,  of  American  Agriculturists.  By 
William  Darlington,  M.  D.    1  vol.  12mo.,  cloth,  $1  00. 

*'  The  volume  is  evidently  the  result  of  much  labour  and  research,  as  well 
as  of  a  very  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  subject  considered.  It  will  be 
found  of  interest  to  the  general  reader,  and  invaluable  to  the  young  farmers 
of  the  United  States." — Inquirer. 


SMEE  ON  THE  POTATO  PLANT.    12mo.,  cloth,  50  cents. 


BIG  ABEL  AND  LITTLE  MANHATTAN.  By  C.  Matthews. 
12mo.,  paper,  25  cents. 

LIFE  IN  CALIFORNIA.   Plates,  12mo.,  cloth,  $1  25, 


THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER.  Standard  Edition. 
18mo.,  morocco,  extra,  $2  50;  morocco,  extra,  bevelled 
boards,  $3  50.   

THE  BOOK  OF  VISIONS:  being  a  Transcript  of  the  Record 
of  the  Secret  Thoughts  of  a  variety  of  individuals,  while 
attending  Church.    I2mo.,  cloth,  50  cents. 


IN  PRESS, 

AND  WILL  EE  PUBLISHED  IN  A  FEW  DAYS, 

THE  YOUNG  MAN'S  WAY  TO  VIRTUE,  HONOUR,  AND 
HAPPINESS.  By  the  Rev.  A.  Atwood.   1  vol.  12mo.,  cloth. 


ELLEN  SEYMOUR ;  or  the  Bud  and  the  Flower.  A  Tale. 
By  Mrs.  Saville  Shepherd,  (formerly  Anne  Houldich,)  1  vol. 
12mo.,  cloth. 


8 


CATALOGUE  OF  VAIUABLE  BOOKS. 


IMPORTATION  OF  FOREIGN  BOOKS. 


J.  W.  MOORE  continues  to  import  either  old  or  new  books 
in  the  different  departments  of  Literature,  by  the  single  copy 
or  in  quantities,  (on  the  most  favourable  terms,  and  with  the 
greatest  despatch,)  for  the  Trade,  Colleges,  and  Literary  and 
Professional  Gentlemen.  If  by  steamer,  in  about  thirty  days ; 
if  by  packet,  at  a  less  expense,  in  about  fifty  or  sixty  days. 

Through  his  agent  in  London  he  is  able  to  give  the  most 
careful  attention  to  all  orders  from  private  individuals,  Book- 
sellers, and  Public  Institutions.  An  order  for  a  single  volume 
will  always  receive  the  same  attention  as  larger  orders. 

ORDERS  FORWARDED  BY  EVERY  STEAMER, 

And  if  the  books  can  be  readily  procured,  they  will  be  received 
by  return  steamer. 

FOREIGN  PERIODICALS  AND  NEWSPAPERS. 

All  the  leading  Periodicals  and  Newspapers  of  the  Continent 
supplied  with  punctuality  and  on  the  most  reasonable  terms. 
Subscribers  at  a  distance  will  have  their  copies  regularly 
mailed  to  their  address. 

BOOKS    IMPORTED    TO    ORDER   FROM  LONDON, 
LEIPSIC,    AND  PARIS. 


A  CATALOGUE 

OF  A  VERY  EXTENSIVE  COLLECTION  OF 

STAN  DARD  WORKS, 

IN  EVERY  DEPARTMENT  OF  LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  ART, 

MOSTLY  ENGLISH  EDITIONS, 

NOW   IN  PRESS. 

It  will  be  sent  gratis  on  application,  POST  PAID. 

Country  Booksellers  supplied  with  all  Foreign  and  American 
Publications  at  a  small  commission  on  cost,  and  all  orders 
executed  with  despatch. 


I 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


